Stuart Ronald Kaplan

Stuart Ronald Kaplan was born on April 1, 1932 in the Bronx. As a kid he loved playing stickball with his friends and getting an egg cream from the corner shop. He was one of five students in the inaugural class of Cardigan Mountain School in New Hampshire, graduating in 1947. In 2015 he was asked to deliver the commencement speech. He shared with the graduating students how that school experience had transformed him from a shy, skinny kid who had been reluctant to leave the familiarity of his neighborhood to an independent and adventuresome young man, who would embrace every opportunity life offered.

After graduation, the teenaged Stuart embarked on a 14-month solo adventure throughout Europe and the Middle East, culminating with a stay in the walled city of Laghouat, Algeria at the base of the Atlas Mountains. On New Year’s Eve Stuart wandered alone out into the vast desert. This would be a profound moment of realization for the young traveler. Taking in the expansiveness of the open desert, he knew he was ready to embrace the infinite possibilities that lay before him.

After completing his travels, Stuart applied to and was accepted at Le Sorbonne in Paris. While visiting Orleans in the Loire Valley, Stuart met a young American girl named Marilyn who would become his wife. After graduating Le Sorbonne, he attended the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. While a student he devised a card dating game, Student Survival, which his children and wife Marilyn would later help assemble in the basement of their Port Chester home, the very first of many jobs in their father’s business.

After graduation, Stuart worked on Wall Street managing coal mines and wrote an exhaustively researched book called Mining, Minerals and Geosciences in 1965. The book would sell millions and garnered major awards. In 1968 while travelling for business in Europe, he attended the Nuremberg Toy Fair in search of gifts for his children and game ideas. He discovered an intriguing deck of cards unlike anything he had ever seen before. He brought the pack of Swiss 1JJ tarot back to New York and started selling it to bookstores. The deck began to sell well but there was no instruction book available, so Stuart wrote Tarot Cards for Fun and Fortune Telling. With these products Stuart launched U.S. Games Systems, Inc. the first company to sell tarot products in the U.S. He chose the Fool tarot card as the company logo because it represents the willingness to take a leap of faith and follow an unchartered path. (And his birthday is April 1, April Fool’s Day) Stuart would go on to write other best-selling tarot books, as well as a four-volume Encyclopedia of Tarot. Stuart also acquired the rights to publish the Rider-Waite deck, illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith, which would become the most popular and beloved tarot deck in the world. Stuart made it his mission to bring Pamela Colman Smith the recognition she richly deserved. He spent years researching Smith and collecting her original art and publications, which would be showcased in his book Pamela Colman Smith: The Untold Story.

Stuart was also an avid collector of antiquarian books, ephemera, historical items, and vintage playing cards and games, particularly Authors Card Games. His impressive collections were displayed in major museums around the world. His last big research and writing project was The Authors Card Game Compendium. Stuart’s passion for work never waned, and it inspired everyone around him.

Stuart was an amazing and kind father to his five children and eight grandchildren. He was a Boy Scout Troop leader and enjoyed camping, fishing and road trips with the family. During later years, while running his company he somehow found the time and energy to play tennis with old friends. Besides his family, Stuart leaves behind his loving partner of 24 years, Bobbie Bensaid and their beloved dog Lili.

Stuart’s gentle and generous nature attracted many wonderful employees to U.S. Games over the years and he grew the company into a loving second family. He was committed to doing good in the world - with his family, friends, business, and community.

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.