Dave Nalle

Dave Nalle (born March 19, 1959 in Beirut, Lebanon) is a political writer, game author and font designer who was active in the early history of the development of the internet. He is the former Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus, a group that promotes libertarianism within the Republican Party and was Senior Politics Editor at Blogcritics online magazine and is the CEO of Scriptorium Fonts.

For the American diplomat, see David Nalle.
Dave Nalle
BornMarch 19, 1959
OccupationJournalist, editor, political activist, font designer, game designer
EducationB.A. in History and English from Franklin and Marshall College; M.A. in Medieval History from University of Texas
ChildrenCaroline, Catherine
RelativesDavid Nalle, Karen Dotrice

Biography

Nalle grew up overseas and in Washington, DC with parents who were in the foreign service. He was educated at British and American schools, attending high school at St. Albans School. As a child and teen he lived in Syria, Iran, Jordan, England and the Soviet Union and traveled in the Middle East and Central Asia.

After moving to Texas in 1982, Nalle earned two graduate degrees at the University of Texas and did a year of graduate study in England at the City University of London. During this period he also ran a small game publishing company called Ragnarok Press. In 1989 Nalle founded Scriptorium Fonts to market his original font designs and digital recreations of antique type and hand lettering, initially for the Commodore 64 and eventually primarily for Macintosh and Windows users.[1]

Nalle ran for Texas State Representative in 2002 and served as Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus from 2009 to 2013. He is also ex-president of the Manor Lions Club and Chairman of the East Travis County Advisory Board which supervises a community center, a public library and charity programs in Manor, Texas. He has two daughters and the family resides outside of Austin, Texas.

Writing and game design

Nalle is the author of articles published in Dragon and other gaming magazines, as well as game, media and book reviews, short fiction and poetry. He also had featured columns in Renaissance Magazine and Thrust, SF in Review.

His published game designs include the Ysgarth and To Challenge Tomorrow roleplaying games, game books and resources like Pantheon and Character Role Playing and the Arthurian collectible card game Quest for the Grail.

Nalle's Suburban Slasher strategy game (1992) was one of the games banned at Gen Con under TSR in the 1990s due to content.[2]

In 2003, Nalle was brought in as a guest designer for a radical redesign of Whole Earth magazine under the guest editorship of Viridian guru Bruce Sterling.[3]

Internet and blogging

Nalle began his involvement with the internet in 1979 working for Al Gore at the Congressional Clearinghouse on the Future which sponsored the Congressional chautauqua series which brought together legislators, academics and communications industry professionals and is credited as the starting point for the development of the public internet.[4]

Nalle operated the Infinite Incarnations BBS which ran on the Hermes BBS package and operated until 1994.[5]

He began writing a blog in 2002 during his campaign for State Representative in Texas House District 42. After the campaign he continued to write under a series of different blog names, eventually developing into the Republic of Dave weblog.[6] In 2008 he started a second blog devoted to debunking conspiracy theories, political disinformation and urban legends at IdiotWars.com.[7] It has a particular emphasis on countering the claims of radio talk show host Alex Jones.

He edits the Republican Liberty Caucus weblog and a featured contributor to the Republican Leadership Council website.

Political activities

Nalle returned to political activism after his unsuccessful run for State Representative in 2002, becoming involved with the Republican Liberty Caucus and eventually serving as Vice Chairman (2007–2009) and Chairman (2009–2013). He also worked as an adviser and consultant on a number of campaigns in the 2008, 2010 and 2012 elections, specializing in new media campaigns and message framing. In 2011 he was an adviser to Texas Senatorial Candidate Ted Cruz,[8][9] and as Texas State Director for the Gary Johnson presidential campaign.[10] Nalle appeared in TV ads for the Ted Cruz in the U.S. Senate race in 2012.[11] Towards the end of the 2012 election Nalle joined Liberty Torch Political Consulting.[12] Nalle is the policy and messaging adviser for the firm.[9] In 2012 he also became a member of the advisory board of the Coalition to Reduce Spending.[13]

Nalle, as vice chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus, initially endorsed Rand Paul in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election.[14]

Books and games
  • Ysgarth (1979)[15]:233–235
  • To Challenge Tomorrow (1983)[15]:398
  • Triad (1984)[15]:398
  • London by Night (1984)[15]:398
  • Middle Passage (1985)
  • Challengers (1985)[15]:39
  • Siege and Fortress (1987)[15]:384–385
  • Ysgarth Adventure Anthology (1987)
  • By the Gods (1986)[15]:73
  • EsperAgents (1988)
  • Complete Gamer's Pantheon (1988)
  • Ysgarth Bestiary (1989)
  • Character RolePlaying (1989)
  • Quest for the Grail (1995)
  • Oroborus (1998)

References
  1. "Biography from 2002 campaign website". Fontcraft.com. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  2. Shannon Appelcline (2014). Designers & Dragons: The '90s. Evil Hat Productions. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-61317-084-7.
  3. "Whole Earth Magazine article". Findarticles.com. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  4. Report on Chautauqua proceedings
  5. "Historic 512 Area Code BBS List". Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  6. "Republic of Dave Weblog". Republicofdave.com. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  7. "Weblog". Idiotwars.com. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  8. "Ted Cruz Campaign Leadership Team". Tedcruz.org. 2011-08-17. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  9. "Shop Talk: Carrying the Torch". Roll Call.
  10. "Johnson Press Release". Blog.4president.org. 2011-08-25. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  11. "Cruz Releases Two New TV Ads Showcasing Tea Party Support". 1 May 2012. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. "Liberty Torch Press Release". libertytorchconsulting.com. 2012-08-22. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
  13. "Coalition to Reduce Spending Board". reducespending.org. 2012-10-27. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
  14. "Rand Paul, running out of time, returning to Libertarian roots". USA TODAY.
  15. Schick, Lawrence (1991). Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games. Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-653-5.
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