Opened to the public on October 14th 2023, The Wizard of Lake Geneva™, exhibit was created in partnership with the Gygax Memorial Fund and the Geneva Lake Museum. This cooperative exhibit features the life and accomplishments of Gary Gygax in his hometown of Lake Geneva, including his founding of GEN CON, co-creation of Dungeons & Dragons®, founding of Tactical Studies Rules (later TSR Hobbies Inc.), publishing hundreds of sci-fi and fantasy novels through his company TSR, and becoming a NY Times Best Selling Author.

In December of 2012, Gail Gygax suggested the idea to have the Gygax Memorial Fund partner with the Geneva Lake Museum to produce a cooperative exhibit of the life and accomplishments of her husband, and Lake Geneva native Gary Gygax.

Talks were begun with Geneva Lake Museum in September of 2019 to cooperatively produce a permanent exhibit featuring Gary Gygax’s legacy, ultimately titled The Wizard of Lake Geneva™, in a 500 square foot room set aside at the museum for this purpose.

After the Gygax Memorial Fund reached out to Daniel Fisher, owner of Hammered Game Tables, about contributing to the exhibit, on February 21, 2020, Hammered Game Tables presented the Geneva Lake Museum with a donation of a beautiful fantasy-nautical themed gaming table to be featured in the Gygax exhibit room.

Gail Gygax, on November 8, 2021, presented the Geneva Lake Museum with a framed stained-glass sign that hung in TSR’s original Dungeon Hobby Shop in the old Hotel Clair building, now the Landmark Center.

On March 5, 2022, on behalf of the Gygax Memorial Fund, Paul Stormberg, owner of The Collector’s Trove online RPG auction house, donated a set of 30 original heraldry designs for Gary Gygax’s Medieval enthusiast club, the Castle & Crusade Society. The coats of arms were printed on shields that now adorn the upper walls of the exhibit.

To the right are some photos from an event held March 17, 2023 to promote the exhibit. Stefan Pokorny as Dungeon Master led many players through two AD&D® game demonstrations. (Photos courtesy of Daniel Fisher, Allen Hammack, and Stefan Pokorny & Anne Carlton.)