An idol of mine has passed.

On Greg Costikyan's blog, scroll down for "RAS: RIP." Redmond Simonsen was instrumental in the success of Simulations Publications, Inc., the company that blew the US wargame market wide open and sold me about 300 board games. Redmond was a co founder and graphic designer, but he was much more than that. He developed systems for game mechanics, rules writing, and graphic design that set the standard for the industry and have yet to be equalled. According to Greg's post here, Redmond was an unfailingly nice and caring fellow and the man that coined the term "game designer."