<p>While working in Los Angeles in 1977 he discovered a then little-known game called <quote>Dungeons <ch.ampersand/> Dragons</quote>. Although the game was in its infancy, Joe at once realised its huge potential and began designing his own role-playing games along similar conceptual lines. These first games were to form the basis of a fantasy world called Magnamund, which later became the setting for the Lone Wolf books.</p>
<p>Five years later, in 1982 at the Origins Game Fair, Joe won the Advanced Dungeons <ch.ampersand/> Dragons World Championships in Baltimore, an event held before 16,000 people. Inspired and encouraged by his success at Origins, Joe decided to quit the music business and devote his time to writing and games design.</p>
<p>In 1983, after a brief spell at Games Workshop in London, he wrote <cite>Flight from the Dark</cite><ch.emdash/>the first Lone Wolf interactive gamebook. His manuscript immediately attracted a frenzy of interest from three major London publishing companies, all of whom bid for world rights. Joe accepted an offer of publication from Hutchinson<ch.apos/>s (later to become Century Hutchinson Ltd; now Random House UK) and <cite>Flight from the Dark</cite> was first published in 1984.</p>
- <p>This first book sold more than 100,000 copies within its first month of publication, and overseas rights were snapped up by twelve countries (including the United States, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Sweden). The success of Joe<ch.apos/>s first book laid the foundations for the future of the Lone Wolf series, which has sold millions of copies around the world.</p>
- <p>Joe has continued to work in the games industry as script writer and games design consultant.</p>
+ <p>This first book sold more than 100,000 copies within its first month of publication, and overseas rights were snapped up by twelve countries (including the United States, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Sweden). The success of Joe<ch.apos/>s first book laid the foundations for the future of the Lone Wolf series, which has sold over 11 million copies around the world.</p>
+ <p>Beginning in 1996, Joe worked in the games industry as script writer and games design consultant.</p>
+ <p>In late 1999, Joe gave his readers his millennium gift by sharing his works freely through what became Project Aon. Other creators added their own gifts to his: Gary Chalk, Brian Williams, Ian Page, Rob Adams, Paul Bonner, Melvyn Grant, Richard Hook, Peter Andrew Jones, Cyril Julien, Peter Lyon, Trevor Newton, Peter Parr, and Graham Round.</p>
+ <p>After a brave and private ten-year battle with illness, Joe Dever passed away in November 2016 leaving behind a legacy of goodness and honor that has earned him a loyal, enduring following among the readers who continue to find adventure in the worlds he created.</p>
Project Aon Git Repositories / project-aon.git / blobdiff