Our long-time helpers — Part 2 of 4
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Arthur Blumberg has been a friend and supporter of Kadon for as long as anyone can remember. And each year, when the Renaissance Festival begins, Arthur helps in the booth, explaining the games and helping visitors select their purchases. In 1998 we were thrilled to produce a game, The Power of Two, that Arthur had created after being inspired by a discussion with Kate about the Kadon philosophy of games. The year after, Arthur invented End Point, and both games were chosen for the "Games 100" list of best games in their years. In Fall 2001 we debuted his third game, the sparkling Overpass, followed in 2003 by the elegantly innovative More or Less. Art always has some intriguing new design cooking. A nice article appeared about him in his alma mater's student paper at the University of Baltimore.
Arthur's programming skills have produced the "cat that walks through walls" and the "bowing teddybear" graphics for the Kadon website, and he is always helpful with advice, suggestions and solutions to thorny computer problems. Art and Kate discovered to their mutual surprise and delight that they had another interest in common—ballroom dancing! Later that year, just for the fun of it, and because she had a costume, Eileen agreed to come help out demonstrating and selling games at Ye Olde Gamery, our pavilion at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Soon Eileen was an indispensable part of our crew as the years rolled by. Her rapport with youngsters is marvelous to see. She gets even the youngest visitors to have a triumphant experience solving our puzzles. And when she got laid off from her day job of 17 years, she offered to help Kadon with anything else that needed doing, and, oh boy, were there things that needed help, like inventory and cost control. Eileen bravely undertook to pitch in with that mountain of work and even to go on the road to help at shows.
Part of Ye Olde Gamery's Sunday crew, Eileen always instigates us to play Sequitur, and the game's hilarious and inventive twists go on all day behind the scenes, in idle moments, from 10AM until the final cannon at 7PM. The replay in reverse always gives the day a final challenge and sweet satisfaction. Thanks, Eileen, for your enthusiasm for this game.
Occasionally he would commute between work locations in Baltimore and San Francisco, where his young daughter, Jordi, lived. He no longer needs to make that commute since his daughter now lives with him when she is not at school in Switzerland. Prior to settling down in Maryland, Steve lived in five different states, which helps to explain why he didn't see anything wrong with bouncing back and forth between coasts for work. For fun Steve enjoys music, frequents science fiction conventions, plays D&D and other role-playing games, Magic the Gathering and other card games, and of course Kadon puzzles and games. Steve is a deep and independent thinker, a kind and sensitive human being with a superb sense of humor, and a great pal.
Steve shares his life and living space with his lovely red-haired wife, France, her son Alex, and Jordi's sweet but clumsy idiot of a cat, Ivy.
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Eileen Shaivitz tagged along with Arthur a few years ago when he came to help us count inventory, a grueling annual task that needs many willing hands. Anyone within shouting range is liable to be pressed into service.
