David Cook

David "Zeb" Cook is an American game designer, best known for his work at TSR, Inc., where he was employed for over fifteen years. Cook was born in East Lansing, Michigan, and grew up on a farm in Iowa. His father was a farmer and college professor. In junior high school, Cook played wargames such as Avalon Hill's Blitzkrieg and Afrika Korps: "I was primarily a wargamer, but there wasn't any role-playing available then". In college, Cook was introduced to the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game through the University of Iowa gaming club. He earned his B.A. in English (with a Theater minor) in 1977, then became a high school teacher in Milligan, Nebraska, where his students gave him his nickname of "Zeb." The name derives from his signature, which is dominated by a stroke resembling a 'Z,' as well as from his resemblance to the James Arness character Zeb Macahan in the TV series How the West Was Won. At TSR, Cook created role-playing games, modules, family board games, card games, rulebooks, and party mystery games. He created game world settings for Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Cook left TSR in 1994 to work as lead designer on videogames for Cryptic Studios, then for Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment. In 2001 he was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame. He married his high school sweetheart, Helen, with whom he had one son, Ian.