Don Spatafora (aka “Big Perm”)

Don Spatafora had many aliases. He was “Big Perm” to all the folks at the Ivory Tower Game club. He was known as “Phred” to many of his gaming friends. He was also lovingly called Bear by some.

He was to me, the ultimate gamer. He loved D&D, and was a very good Game Master. He knew all the rules, and was creative. He could weave a wonderful tale, and lead his groups into the best of adventures. The reason he was better than most, as a GM, was that he did not bring his Ego to the table. He didn’t flaunt that he was the GM, or want all the attention, or become the “Lord of the Rules”. So many GM’s get on a power trip, and ruin the game for the players. For him, the most important part was the players enjoying the story.

He was also an avid player of Magic the Gathering (MTG). He was not really a competitive player. He just liked the casual game. At the store, the Pro-tour players would all be playing the latest beat-down deck. They would be “preparing” for the next qualifier, or testing new combo’s with one another.

You would look over and see Don playing a big multi-player game, with all the kids that the Pro’s were ignoring. He would make some silly goblin deck, and have a blast.

He was famous in the Tampa Bay area. People would say, “Oh, the Kird Ape guy”! He collected original Arabian Nights Kird Apes. He would trade almost anything to add to the growing collection. Last count, he had over 30,000 of them! I think he enjoyed helping the younger kids, more than he actually liked collecting them. He used the collection as an excuse to make ‘bad trades’. He would often give the kids 10 good rares, for one silly ape. You would hear some kid off whispering, “Man he is so dumb, he just gave me all these cards for one stupid common.” Don would just smile, in the way only he could smile.

On his Yahoo 360 profile, I gleaned a few of his thoughts:

My friends call me bear . I come from a time past . Simple things make me happy , a good cup of coffee and conversation with friends after dinner is heaven to me .

Hi, its me Don . I don’t have a lot, but my name and honor and my Heart .

He was a tender man, a romantic who never found a wife. He would have been a great dad I think. He never raised his voice. One of his final posts was:

“Why can we never go back . Never reach that perfect moment in time . Never capture again that split second where we were happiest . Our feet keep leading us down the path of life . Along the rocky road we must travel . From time to time, our road leads us to a Green Pasture next to a gentle brook where we can dip our feet in the cool waters . We must learn to savor these moments to lay back and feel the grass under our backs to smell the flowers near by to hear the birds singing in the trees . For all to soon our feel must start back down the path and who knows what lies around the next bend in the road . Heaven or Hell or just a long long road ahead .”

The St. Petersburg times said this of him:

Spatafora, Donald Paul, 45, of St. Petersburg, died Tuesday (April 17, 2007) at home.
A native of St. Petersburg, he worked in theatrical lighting and was a merchant. He graduated from American Heritage Academy in Fort Lauderdale and was Catholic.

Forty five years, and that’s how they sum him up!

They don’t say that he was a loyal friend. A good and honest worker. An imaginative story teller. They don’t tell you of his kind heart. His simple enjoyments.

It didn’t say that he always had a kind word for everyone, or that his character meant more to him than riches. It didn’t tell you he was a giant teddy bear. A gentle Ben.

And it didn’t tell you how many people will miss him, and his silly Kird Apes!

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