Rest In Play - 2020 - 2029

John Wilson, also known as the Rochdale Balrog, passed away on May 31, 2021. John was the founder of renowned text adventure game publisher Zenobi Software. He turned Zenobi into a full-time ventu...re in 1986, helping produce and publish adventure games for systems like ZX Spectrum and the Atari ST. John also released a brand new adventure game for the ZX Spectrum called Ramsbottom Smith and the Quest for the Yellow Spheroid.Show more

Ebbe Altberg, CEO of Linden Lab, passed away in June 2021. Ebbe joined Linden Lab, which is the creator and developer of the online virtual world Second Life, in 2014 as the CEO. He embraced this p...osition, promoting Second Life as the world's best virtual world, community, and platform. Prior to joining Linden Lab, Altberg worked at high-profile technology companies including BranchOut, Yahoo!, and Microsoft.Show more

Art Janis passed away in March 2021. Art was the executive vice president of sales for WowWee, and an all around toy industry legend. Art spent 25 years at WowWw, working closely with the company's... co-founders, Richard and Peter Yanofsky. Art leaves behind his loving wife, Marina. He will be deeply and dearly missed by all those that knew and loved him.Show more

Candace Irving was the Public Relations Manager for Mattel Toys from April 1976 until March 2000. Over the course of her 24 years at Mattel, she worked in the Public Relations office managing brands l...ike Barbie, Hot Wheels, Masters of the Universe, My Child, Princess of Power, and other Mattel brands. After her 2+ decades at Mattek, Candace worked at Sony Pictures Entertainment as the Senior Account Executive of Sales for two years. Then, she joined Warner Bros. as an Account Executive.Show more

Jake Sivner passed away in April of 2022 at the age of 22. Jake Sivner joined the toy industry in 2018 as a sales and marketing intern at ZURU Toys in Hong Kong, where he quickly moved into sales a...nd account management positions for the Asia Pacific and EMEA regions. Later, he joined YWOW Brands as sales director before relocating to Los Angeles to start his own company. In April 2021, he opened JAS (Jake Alexander Sivner) Ultimate Solutions, which specialized in marketing consulting for launching toy brands within the North American market.Show more

Steve Webb passed away in March of 2022 after a short battle with cancer. Steve had recently joined Cartamundi as the head of retail. Prior to this role, he spent several years at One For Fun as s...trategic account manager, and prior to that, he worked at A.B.Gee as national account manager. Steve leaves behind his wife, Nic, and his two children, Gracie and Jack. He will be deeply and dearly missed by all those that knew and loved him.Show more

Don Rubin was born on April 6, 1945 and passed away on April 8, 2022. Don attended Boston University and began his career in education, but that eventually evolved into much more. Throughout his l...ife he was a creative consultant, scripwriter, game designer, photographer, puzzle maker, research historian, editor, and writer. His creation, "The Real Puzzle" was published in over 300 national and international newspapers and magazines. Each week, when he created a new puzzle, he became a mini expert in the field of the topic of the puzzle. He also wrote many books, including, "The Real Puzzle Book", "What's the Big Idea", "Those Incredible Puzzles", "Think Tank", "Brainstorms" and "More Brainstorms". After finding so much success in the print world, he decided to delve into the online world as well. He worked on interactive games at Shockwave, Firemint, Ringzero Networks, and Electronic Arts. He was also a member of the Screen Writers Guild, and won many awards for editorial design, art direction, television and film design, photography, game design, advertising copywriting, and Web content development. Don leaves behind his lovely wife, Caroline Judy. He is deeply and dearly missed by all those that knew and loved him.Show more

Eric Carle was born on June 25, 1929 and passed away on May 23, 2021. He is most well known as the author of the children's book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Eric was born in New York but grew up ...in Germany, where he attended the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart. Eventually, after World War II ended, Eric made his way back to the US with just $40 in his savings account to work as a graphic designer for the New York Times. He was drafted into the US Army during the Korean War as a mail clerk. After his was discharged, he returned the New York Times. Later, he became the art director of an advertising agency. Eric got his start as an illustrator in 1967. Author Bill Martin Jr. noticed Eric's illustration of a lobster he did for an ad, and asked him to illustrate his picture book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? The book became a best seller, and thus Eric's illustrating career took off, only soon he was the author as well. His first books has both the author and illustrator were 1, 2, 3, to the Zoo and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. What makes Eric's art so unique is the collaging technique he uses. He cuts and layered hand-painted paper to form very bright, eye-catching images. The Very Hungry Caterpillar has been translated into more than 66 languages and in total has sold over 50 million copies. In total, Eric has illustrated more than 70 books, most of which he also authored. More than 145 million copies of his books have been sold around the world. In 2003, Eric was awarded the biennial Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal (now the Children's Literature Legacy Award) by the American Library Association. Eric's also received the Japan Picture Book Award, the Regina Medal, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Illustrators. In 2012, The Very Hungry Caterpillar was voted the number two children's picture book (second only to Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. Eric and his second wife, Barbara Morrison, lived in Massachusetts, but also spent time in their vacation home in Key Largo, Florida. Eric had two children, a son and a daughter.Show more

David Spears, or Paul David Spearsm was born on June 9, 1939, and passed away on July 13, 2020. David founded his own company, Spears Marketing, and worked with big names like Mattel throughout hi...s 50-year career in the toy industry. Outside of the toy industry, David loved music, reading, working in his yard, and spending time with family. He will be deeply and dearly missed by all those that knew and loved him.Show more

Atsuko Tanaka was born on November 14, 1962 and passed away on August 20, 2024. Atsuko was born in Japan and became interested in acting at a young age. She attended Ferris University, and while sh...e studied she also worked as an extra at Shochiku. A few years later, she enrolled in Tokoyo Announcement Academy and jointed the talent agency Mausu Promotion. She also had a passion for dancing, though she ultimately chose acting over dancing. She was best known for her portrayal of Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell film and franchise, and she also voiced Konan in Naruto, Caster in Fate/stay night, Lisa Lisa in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Chun-Li in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Claudette in Queen's Blade, Karura in Utawarerumono, Bayonetta in the Bayonetta franchise, Hanami in Jujutsu Kaisen, and Kyrie Ushiromiya in Umineko no Naku Koro ni, among others.Show more