R. Garry Shirts

SEARCH WHY WHO G AMES FOR T HE SER IOUSL Y P L AYFUL Quote of the moment: "Fightin's outta style, fun's where it's at!" - Firesign Theater, "I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus" Deep Fun is supported solely by your generosity. Donate via PayPal MOR E FUN CONT ACT SUBSCR IBE Garry Shirts – A Life Completed D E E P FUN V IA E MA IL by B E RN A RD DE K OV E N on A PRI L 2 6 , 2 011 [ E DI T] Garry Shirts, Defender of the Playful, creative, bernie.dekoven@gmail.com caring, loving friend, author of some of the best training games I’ve yet experienced, has recently completed his life. His playful presence will be carried forward in the lives of the many people who have loved him, learned from him, played with him. I am glad to be one of the many. A RC H IV E S We both were honored with the Ifill-Raynolds award. C A T E G O RIE S He got his award first, which made mine that much more profound of an honor. He founded Simulation Training Systems through which he offered his games and training. In one of my favorite of his games, BaFa’, BaFa’, he was able to provide generations of leaders in the military, business and education with an unforgettably fun and profound lesson in understanding the importance of appreciating cultural differences, and unearthing one’s own cultural biases. His essay, Cohesion through Diversity, expresses the depth of understanding and compassion he brought with him. Subscribe Select Month Select Category M O RE D E F E N D E R O F T H E P L A YF U L Meet Havi Brooks Another of his games, Star Power, also surprisingly fun to play, was, like BaFa’ BaFa’, just as surprisingly instructive. Like BaFa’ Bafa’, it’s also a trading game. In the game “participants have a chance to progress from one level of society to another by acquiring wealth through trading with other participants. Once the society is established, the group with the most wealth is given the right to make the rules for the game.” Guess what kinds of rules the wealthy group, out of their free and pecunious will, foist upon the less pecunious. Guess how the impecunious respond. What a lesson to observe your playful self be so entirely willing to do unto others what you hope to keep them from doing to you. What a deep understanding you gain of the promises and perils of capitalism. Garry’s games will continue to provide all of those who play or lead them a direct connection to his genius, playfulness and love. His life may be complete, but his presence will long continue to enlighten and lighten our lives. If you need to do something to express your appreciation, play, purchase, teach his games. If you need to do something more, Garry was a strong supporter of the ACLU. You can also contribute, in his honor, here. Share this: Like this: Human Curling Pop Up Playground games of movement and spectacle a meeting with Jules Defender of the Playful Arvind Gupta on TED Garry Shirts - a life completed The fun of math and stuff Bob Gregson: in 1977, Mayday was Playday in Hartford Major Fun award-winning Rafael Lozano-Hemmer creates Olympic Light Art Bob Gregson - Defender of the Playful Jesse Schell, conceptual optician Facebook Like Google Loading... Tagged as: obituary, simulation games Twitter Reddit LinkedIn Garry Shirts - Defender of the Playful Brian Sutton-Smith Defender of the Playful Rabbi of Playfulness Improv Everywhere Defenders of the Playful Leave a Comment Logged in as Bernard De Koven. Logout → The Grass Stain Guru Defender of the Playful Alexander Calder - Defender of the Playful "Leisure Play is Important for Human Collaboration" download the entire paper The A-Z of Playfulness Danna Bananas, Defender of the Playful Play and Game Communities Adventures on the the Playful Path - with Gary Berlind, Gambaist The Homemade Games Guru Submit You can manage the subscriptions of this entry. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. PRE V I OU S POS T: N E XT POS T: backstory beyond hopscotch © 2013 Bernie DeKoven loading Grand Theft Childhood: Who's Stealing What from Whom?