Stuart R. Kaplan

In 1968 while traveling for business in Europe, Stuart Kaplan attended the Nuremberg Toy Fair in search of game ideas and gifts for his children. He discovered an intriguing deck of cards unlike anything he had ever seen before. Read more

With these products Stuart launched U.S. Games Systems, Inc. the first company to publish tarot decks in the U.S. He chose the Fool card from the Rider-Waite deck 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). The Rider-Waite deck, illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith, would become the most iconic and beloved tarot deck in the world. Stuart made it his personal 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’s dedication to education also led him to write one of the most extensive bodies of work on the tarot, the four-volume Encyclopedia of Tarot, which describes and illustrates more than 1,000 different tarot decks from the 15th century to the present.