Radio Free Wyhtl 2.3
Trampier Lives?
Originally posted April 25, 2000 Since last September, we've received a number of emails from interested fans (including staff at Wizards oddly interested in asking if he wants a comic compilation) who have used the many powers of the web to locate the man whom Phil Foglio (in 1995, quoting a TSR staffer from 1988) declared was "presumed dead".
David Trampier, one of TSR's best and earliest artists, famed creator of the Wormy comic in Dragon magazine, vanished from public view shortly after Yamara began its run. Since Mr. Trampier's actions seemed precipitous, rumors of his death, and/or a life of misfortune abounded. For many months, no two urban myths we heard about his fate were alike. Since his was a politically and ethically rebellious voice, we at Aetherco posted our concern a few years ago online.
No bunch of comic mavens would be more pleased to hear he was all right than us folks at Aetherco. Work on CºNTINUUM and its sequels has kept us from keeping up-to-date on this issue, (and hampered work on the infinitely less-celebrated Project Blueplate, or Chris' Timeline of the Burroughs Universe... or his stamp collection...) but we felt it was high time to alert the world that he might just be breathing.
We do caution fans out there, that if Mr. Trampier is alive, he has plainly taken great pains to Not Be Seen. Sudden departures are signs of caution in our society, and the vanishing of the famous and outspoken must always be loudly noted in a free country. But if he is off in a new life somewhere, and you get his phone number– resist the initial temptation. Consider well if he's interested in strangers bothering him after all these years. As evidence of his peaceful continued existence mounts, so does the dynamic of insuring a fellow artist's safety: The issue of privacy is second to life, but an extremely close second.
While we very much appreciate the phone numbers supplied by concerned fans in recent weeks, we have yet to call any of them.
But we're thinking about it.
Well, that's what his address and phone number seem to indicate...