June 20, 2025: Remembering Rick Loomis Via A Bittersweet Milestone

While doing a bit of internal research recently, I came across this Daily Illuminator post from November 11, 2018: "Ten Awesome Things About SJ Games."

Always on the lookout for new Illuminator ideas, I was amused to discover that a lot of it still holds true – which is always refreshing for an article from pre-COVID (or, as I call it, "the Before Times") – though we've added another six years to the "world's oldest blog."

However, my eyes were immediately drawn to one element that isn't true any more . . . in a way that's both noteworthy yet humbling.

The first item on the list states: "We are the second oldest game publisher still under its original management, the first being the venerable Flying Buffalo."

Reading that reminded me of the founder of Flying Buffalo, Rick Loomis. Rick was an amazing guy, full of creativity, business acumen, and decades worth of stories about the industry. Nikki Vrtis and I got to know Rick for a number of years. Living as we do in Indianapolis (and working from home!), we've often extended an offer to those in the biz who'd benefit from having a local address to receive packages for Gen Con; it's pretty easy for us to drop off a parcel or three before the show.

One of the folks we helped this way was Rick Loomis. We'd typically go out to eat as a "thank you" after shuffling around boxes. There, we'd get to hear stories from Rick. He had a lot of insight about the business – much of it we knew or experienced ourselves to varying degrees, but it was fascinating to hear details extending decades before our own professional involvement in the world of gaming.

Sadly, Rick succumbed to cancer in 2019, and Steve Jackson mourned his passing on this very blog.

As our household starts making Gen Con plans for the year (less than two months away), I realize that – as neat as it is that Steve Jackson Games is now the oldest game publisher under its original management – I'd vastly prefer the company be #2, if it meant Rick were still around and shepherding Flying Buffalo. Rick was really interesting, and we remember him fondly . . . especially around convention season.

– Steven Marsh

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