Arnold Ferdinand Arnold (February 6, 1921 – January 20, 2012) was an author,

game design Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, in ...

er and

cyberneticist A cyberneticist or a cybernetician is a person who practices cybernetics. Heinz von Foerster once told Stuart Umpleby that Norbert Wiener preferred the term "cybernetician" rather than "cyberneticist", perhaps because Wiener was a mathematician ...

, known more for the fame of his relatives and wives in later life. His first and only legal wife,

Eve Arnold Eve Arnold, OBE (honorary), FRPS (honorary) (née Cohen; April 21, 1912January 4, 2012) was an American photojournalist, long-resident in the UK. She joined Magnum Photos agency in 1951, and became a full member in 1957. She was the first woma ...

, was known for photography. His second partner, who he never married, was writer

Gail E. Haley Gail E. Haley (born November 4, 1939) is an American writer and illustrator. She has won the annual awards for children's book illustration from both the American and British librarians, for two different picture books. She won the 1971 Caldecot ...

. Arnold's two brothers-in-law were

Theodor Gaster Theodor Herzl Gaster (July 21, 1906 – February 2, 1992) was a British-born American Biblical scholar known for work on comparative religion, mythology and the history of religion. He is noted for his books, ''Thespis: Ritual, Myth, and Drama in ...

and

Peter Drucker Peter Ferdinand Drucker (; ; November 19, 1909 – November 11, 2005) was an Austrian-American management consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business co ...

Early life in Germany

Arnold, born Arnold F. Schmitz, was born into one of Germany's oldest Jewish families. His grandfather had founded one of Germany's oldest department stores, in Mainz, Kaufhaus Lahnstein. The management of the store was taken over by Arnold's uncle – Carl Lahnstein who became the geschäftsfuhrer upon Julius's death, and which Arnold was to take over as the only surviving male of the next generation and son of Carl's only surving sister.

Education

After fleeing Nazi Germany less than a week after Hitler came to power, Arnold was educated in the UK at

Bedales School Bedales School is a co-educational, boarding and day independent school in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conventio ...

. He later attended

St. Martin's School of Art Saint Martin's School of Art was an art college in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1854, initially under the aegis of the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Saint Martin's became part of t ...

before moving to the United States.

Career

Arnold followed his eldest sister to the United States where he gained work as a writer and cartoonist. He was drafted into the U.S. military in 1941, and after training in South Carolina, was sent to France as a member of the 101st Division. Badly wounded after his

jeep Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Moto ...

ran over a German landmine, he returned to New York where he settled down to married life with Eve. By the 1950s, Arnold was well established in the New York literary world. He taught at the New School, had a one-man show at

MOMA Moma may refer to: People * Moma Clarke (1869–1958), British journalist * Moma Marković (1912–1992), Serbian politician * Momčilo Rajin (born 1954), Serbian art and music critic, theorist and historian, artist and publisher Places ; Ang ...

, and published his first book at Ballentine Books. He knew

Ian Ballantine Ian Keith Ballantine (February 15, 1916 – March 9, 1995) was an American publisher who founded and published the paperback line of Ballantine Books from 1952 to 1974 with his wife, Betty Ballantine. The Ballantines were both inducted by the ...

well and essentially became a substitute father to Ian's only child and son Richard Ballantine. The success of the book, ''How To Play With Your Child'', which sold over 100,000 initial copies, established Arnold as an author, and allowed the family to buy a house in

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

. Arnold was also a successful and well known advertising and commercial designer, and created the famous

Parker Brothers Parker Brothers (known by Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. Among its products wer ...

swirl logo, first used in 1964. He created and designed many innovative educational and teaching games for leading game designers through the 1960s. He also designed classical record covers for EPIC Records during the 1950s. Arnold and Gail had two children. Arnold had by this time established himself as a national columnist with the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' with a weekly column on childrearing called "Parents and Their Children."

References

{{authority control German male writers Cyberneticists German game designers