Alright,
I've been reading Wormy from start to finish via the Dragon Magazine CD-ROM archive, and then started poking around to find out if there was a printed archive from Dave Trampier (In some of the issues that were printed around #90 or so, there is mention of a compilation by way of advertisement on an adjoining page).
So, as I look into it, it seems that two things are clear:
1) Dave Trampier is loved by a massive amount of people for his artwork and storytelling ability
2) Dave's falling out and subsequent "vanishing act" are the subject of much consternation and no small mystery.
Being that I can't leave something like this alone, I start sniffing around.
Now, on the WOTC FAQ page, there is some mention of Trampier being alive and well, but disassociated with the gaming community (and clearly choosing to live in anonymity, to at least some extent).
Ok, so alive = good. Where, how to contact, and the utility of making that contact, not so clear. Still looking into that. Erik? Any insights? Is this best left untouched?
SO then I ask myself, why the sudden breaking off? I find the following letter at http://www.yamara.com/yamara/rfw/rfw2/rfw2pg3.html#lettres
It reads as follows:
"
Subject: Trampier
Date: 13 Aug 99
[edited version]
I accidentally stumbled upon your essay on the Trampier mystery. I find it all rather bizarre, but events around Dave always were.
Though I always acknowledged Dave's clear talent, I must admit I never picked up on the subtexts in Wormy you've described. In hindsight I see what you mean, though I'd have to look more closely. But I have to seriously wonder if Dave consciously inserted all those arcane messages, references to his audience's escapist tendencies and such. It might have just been his artistic sensitivity and the zeitgheist.
It's been a long time. I had forgotten about Dave and Wormy, but they do merit attention.
I might be able to fill in a few voids in the story.
Many TSR people used to hang out at this seedy but happening tavern in Lake Geneva called "Jane's". It's long gone now, but way back when its bathroom's walls were completely graffittied with Dave Trampier's and Tom Wham's artwork -- it was amazing. Gary Gygax also was known to hang out there occasionally. Jane's catered to a kinda' rough crowd, but it was a VERY interesting place-- full of curious goings on. It was not for the faint of heart.
Back then (in TSR's protean days) Dave Trampier, Tom Wham and Kim Mohan were all friendly with one another.
Tramp caught me in a bar one night (not Jane's, it was closed by this time) and he was raving. Don't get me wrong, I like eccentrics and idiosyncratic characters, but Dave seemed wacked out of his mind-- paranoid, delusional or something (not just drunk, though he may have been); he was very agitated. I could hardly make sense of what he was trying to tell me-- it was all so incoherent and in many cases just wrong-headed (contrary to certain facts I was privy to), but none-the-less he was rather insistent. I subsequently got the impression that this agitated state of mind Dave seemed to be in wasn't an isolated incident, but reflected a more general problem he was having. I suspect that it complicated his involvement with Dragon Magazine. Dave's reality seemed to be all his own at that time. He was being extremely creative and diligent in his artwork, but he chafed at or ignored many of the conventions and compromises the professional world demands of creators. Well, bully for him. I appreciate the dilemma he likely faced.
I think there was suppose to be a big Wormy compilation that fell through too. Seems to me Dave was counting on that and he was very disappointed when it didn't happen. Dave's uncompromising, somewhat confrontation attitude must have contributed to his book's demise. Whereas, Kim and he once were on social terms, by then I don't think they got along with each other very well if at all.
Name withheld by request. Aetherco has been able to substantiate the source of this letter as a TSR insider, but not, of course, whether any of the details are true. David Trampier remains missing."
I dunno... It seems a shame to allow Trampier to slip off into subculture history, and while he's probably in his 50s or 60s now, what better time to reclaim your empire?
Any other insights? I'd love to see more on this.
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