In late summer 2012 I received a first mail from Debbie Curtis, in which she had added a theme that did not work with BGBlitz yet. It still had a few bugs, but it was clear that she was very talented as a graphic designer. By the way, the board became "Antique Cherry, Black & White (DC)"
Our mail traffic intensified rapidly. She asked, for example, which boards I found particularly beautiful. I sent her a few links to great real boards and so a one and a half year intensive cooperation started. She had the highest demands on her work and was only satisfied when it was really first class. For example, she invested hours and days until the metal-framed stones really looked like true metal. And she had many ideas, e.g. that not all stones should look the same or she used unusual materials like cement. Some details were also based on photos I had taken, e.g. the checkers from the "Wood -- Oak, Natural Red, Maple & Burl (DC)" are based on a British backgammon board from the 30s and the dice from many boards (e.g. "Leather -- Rust, Terracotta & Maize (DC)") not only look like precision dice, but are based on my photos of real precision dice. And I spent several weekends with a macro, tripod, improvised lighting and a self-made stage until the photos were good enough for her, although they looked perfect to me long before.
Debbie worked tirelessly with her perfectionist approach on new boards and reached higher and higher levels until she created the most beautiful boards I have ever seen. At the same time, she gave me feedback on BGBlitz from her perspective and I gave her feedback on her boards. At that time it was not unusual that we exchanged up to 10 mails per day(!).
I also asked her to contact the other good backgammon program authors to offer them a cooperation, because I was afraid that the sales would be too low for her otherwise. She always denied this with the argument that BGBlitz is the only good native Mac program.
But we didn't only talk about backgammon but also about other things, e.g. politics, which is rather unusual for Americans, it is considered a taboo subject there. That was exciting for me, because this way I got not only insights into American views of politics in the USA, but also how Americans see Europe or Germany.
After the release in 2014 we didn't email each other that often anymore but when there were no mails from her for quite a while I emailed her and a little later she answered that she had been sick for quite some time. But I did't attach so much importance to that. Our mail contact continued in intervals until he fell asleep again. When her website was down and I didn't get any reaction to my emails, I was seriously worried.
A few months later I received an email from her brother that Debbie had passed away. It's clichéd, but right then it crossed my mind that there was a lot I didn't know about her and that it's impossible to catch up. The fact that she was only a year older than me makes one thoughtful and humble.
I contacted her brother and I'm much obliged that he allowed me to provide Debbie's graphics for BGBlitz for free in her memory. This way even more people can get to know and appreciate her work, but I would much prefer to exchange ideas with her. Much more.
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Antique Cherry, Black & White (DC) (big)
(download 1.8 MB)
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Antique Cherry & Sienna (DC) (big)
(download 1.9 MB)
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Antique Cherry with Burl (Big, DC) (big)
(already included)
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Antique Cherry with Cocobolo (DC) (big)
(already included)
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Antique Wood with Maroon (Big, DC) (big)
(already included)
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Antique Wood with Red (Big, DC) (big)
(already included)
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Christmas Chrome Metal LED (DC) (big)
(download 1.3 MB)
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Christmas Gold Metal Electronic (DC) (big)
(download 1.2 MB)
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Christmas Silver Metal LED (DC) (big)
(download 1.2 MB)
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Leather -- Black, Silver & Red Croc (DC) (big)
(download 2.1 MB)
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Leather -- Black & Silver Croc (DC) (big)
(download 2.1 MB)
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Leather -- Black Gator, Silver & Tangerine (DC) (big)
(download 2.0 MB)
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Leather -- Black, Gray & White (DC) (big)
(download 1.7 MB)
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Leather -- Black, Gray & White with Blue (DC) (big)
(already included)
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Leather -- Brown Croc, Teal & Gray (DC) (big)
(download 2,4 MB)
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Leather -- Brown & White Croc (DC) (big)
(download 2.3 MB)
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Leather -- Burgundy & Teal (DC) (big)
(download 1.9 MB)
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Leather -- Gray, Black & White (DC) (big)
(download 1.5 MB)
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Leather -- Green-Red & Black Classic (DC) (big)
(download 1.9 MB)
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Leather -- Navy Blue & Creme (DC) (big)
(download 2.2 MB)
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Leather -- Navy Blue & White (DC) (big)
(already included)
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Leather -- Prussian Blue & Creme (DC) (big)
(download 2.5 MB)
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Leather -- Prussian Blue & White (DC) (big)
(download 2.0 MB)
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Leather -- Purple & White (DC) (big)
(download 1.8 MB)
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Leather -- Red-Green & Black Classic (DC) (big)
(download 1.9 MB)
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Leather -- Rust, Terracotta & Maize (DC) (big)
(already included)
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Leather Dark Teal & White (DC) (big)
(download 2.6 MB)
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Leather Teal Ostrich (DC) (big)
(download 2.8 MB)
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MARBLE -- Peach With Peach & Gray (DC) (big)
(download 4.3 MB)
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MARBLE -- Tan Travertine With Chocolate & White (DC) (big) (download 1.9 MB)
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MARBLE -- Tan With Chocolate & Sienna (DC) (big)
(download 2.0 MB)
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MARBLE -- Tan Travertine With Chocolate & Salmon (DC) (big) (download 2.0 MB)
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MARBLE -- Tan Travertine With Chocolate & Sienna (DC) (big) (download 2.0 MB)
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MARBLE -- White, Black & Onyx (DC) (big)
(download 2.8 MB)
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MARBLE -- White With Black & Gray (DC) (big)
(download 1.7 MB)
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MARBLE -- White With Gray & Blue (DC) (big)
(download 1.9 MB)
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MARBLE -- White With Two Greens (DC) (big)
(download 1.9 MB)
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MODERN -- Black & White (DC) (big)
(download 1,2 MB)
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STONE -- Gray Concrete, Black & White (DC) (big)
(download 1,4 MB)
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STONE -- Taupe, Rust & Jade (DC) (big)
(download 2.2 MB)
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Steel - Black, Blue-Green LED Tri-Digital (DC) (big)
(already included)
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Steel - Black, Gold, Silver Tri-Digital (DC) (big)
(download 667 KB)
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Steel - Champagne, Black & White LED Tri-Digital (DC) (big) (download 892 KB)
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Steel - Silver, Copper, Blue Tri-Digital (DC) (big)
(download 1.6 MB)
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Steel - Silver, Copper, Cyan Tri-Digital (DC) (big)
(download 1.6 MB)
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Steel - Silver, Copper, Purple Tri-Analog (DC) (big)
(download 1.1 MB)
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Steel - Silver, Copper, Purple Tri-Digital (DC) (big)
(download 1.1 MB)
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Steel - Silver, Green, Peach Tri-Digital (DC) (big)
(download 988 KB)
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Steel - Silver, Black & White LED Tri-Digital (DC) (big)
(download 983 KB)
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Steel - Silver, Blue-Green LED Tri-Digital (DC) (big)
(download 1.0 MB)
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Steel - Silver, Gold & Silver Electronic (DC) (big)
(download 1.0 MB)
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Steel - Silver, Gold Tri-Digital (DC) (big)
(download 942 KB)
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TEXTURE -- Concrete, Blue & Sienna (DC) (big)
(download 2.3 MB)
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TEXTURE -- Plaster, Sienna & Ivory (DC) (big)
(download 2.2 MB)
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TEXTURE -- Scratchy Blue & Green (DC) (big)
(download 3.0 MB)
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TEXTURE -- Stone, Terracotta & Ivory (DC) (big)
(download 2.6 MB)
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Wood -- Oak, Antique, Maple & Burl (DC) (big)
(download 1.7 MB)
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Wood -- Oak, Golden, Maple & Burl (DC) (big)
(download 1.7 MB)
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Wood -- Oak, Natural Red, Maple & Burl (DC) (big)
(download 1.5 MB)
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Wood -- Oak, Red, Maple & Mahogany (DC) (big)
(download 1.7 MB)
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Wood Walnut & Burl (DC) (big)
(download 2.8 MB)
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Wood Walnut, Light Teak & Burl (DC) (big)
(download 1.7 MB)
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Wood Walnut, Teak & Walnut (DC) (big)
(download 1.6 MB)
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Wood Zebrawood Burgundy & Burl (DC) (big)
(download 2.1 MB)
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Wood Zebrawood Camel Leather & Burl (DC) (big)
(download 2.2 MB)
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Wood Zebrawood Mahogany & Burl (DC) (big)
(download 1.9 MB)
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Wood Zebrawood Poplar & Burl (DC) (big)
(download 1.8 MB)
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