Mark Ruggiero: an appreciation

 

 

I don’t know Mark Ruggiero, not really. We’ve never met face to face; I suspect we’ve never even been in the same place at the same time. We’re Facebook pals and have exchanged a few words back and forth in posts and comments. But I know Mark best through his YouTube channel, clarkcommando1983.

Mark has been a wargamer since he was a kid and, unlike many of us who too a break in our twenties or thirties, he’s pretty much been playing right through. Those who have known him better and longer than me talk about talk about a man who loves wargames and loves to share what he knows and loves nothing better than to play a days-long monster game with five or six other people and get deep into the tall grass. Mark’s YouTube channel is chock full of how-to-play videos of old Avalon Hill and SPI classics and some new classics as well. He’s probably forgotten more than I’ll ever know about board wargames. But more than that, he’s a really nice guy, friendly and magnanimous. Mark is an ambassador for our hobby, a centrist voice in a sometimes divided fraternity, trying to highlight what we all share in common and to bring everyone to the table, literally.

Mark is now wrestling with pancreatic cancer. The cancer is at stage four, and his prognosis isn’t good. In an unjust turn from an indifferent universe, Mark's wife, Evie, is facing her own challenge with lung cancer. Tiffani Drenon, a close friend of them both, has organised a GoFundMe campaign to help with their ongoing medical expense and such, and if you can see your way to donating something the that, that would be cool. But that’s not the reason I’m writing this.

Mark has been up-front about everything he’s going through. Throughout this experience – he received his terminal prognosis in September – Mark has been honest about his situation, has never tried to sugar-coat it for himself or anyone else. And the whole time he’s continued to produce material for his YouTube channel, to talk about games, to talk about his plans for the future (which mostly involve replaying his favourite games and trying out some new ones), and generally fit as much life into whatever time his has left. This guy is an inspiration.

One of Mark’s gifts to the wider community was to talk about his plans for his wargame collection, which he made a video about. Four years ago, I had my own potential brush with mortality (I should be here for a while yet), but that made me realise I didn’t want to leave my wife to deal with a couple hundred games – I know people with much bigger collections, but it’s not nothing – and I’ve made provision in my will for the disposal of the collection. I think everyone should watch Mark’s video and make a plan for their gaming legacy.

I got a little sidetracked here. The reason why I wanted to write this post was that everyone has something nice to say about someone when they’re gone, but the person that would benefit the most from hearing it isn’t there to appreciate it. That's never struck me as right or fair. So, I what I wanted to say is:

Mark, thank you for everything you’ve given to our shared hobby, your knowledge and wisdom, thank you for being such a warm-hearted and generous guy, and thank you for sharing your journey with the rest of us. Love and peace from your brother wargamer.