David J. Ritchie


David James Ritchie was a game designer and author.

Early life and education

David Ritchie was a native of Canton, Ohio. He was a graduate of Lehman High School in Canton and attended Grove City College in Pennsylvania where he met his wife, Deborah.

Career

David Ritchie worked for SPI until it was taken over by TSR in March 1982; as more former SPI employees left TSR or were fired, Ritchie was the final SPI holdover, and left for Coleco in late 1983. Ritchie, along with Jon Pickens, David "Zeb" Cook, Harold Johnson, Rick Swan, and Ed Carmien, co-wrote the adventure module OA2 Night of the Seven Swords. Ritchie and Dave Arneson detailed Arneson's world of Blackmoor in a series of four adventure books from TSR, DA1: Adventures in Blackmoor, DA2: Temple of the Frog, DA3: City of the Gods and DA4: The Duchy of Ten.
Ritchie wrote the 1991 book Connecticut: Off the Beaten Path with his wife, Deborah.
Ritchie died in his Connecticut home on September 6, 2009, at the age of 58.