Sid Sackson
Sid Sackson (1920 - November 6, 2002) was a significant American board game designer.His most popular creation is probably the business game Acquire. Other games he designed include Can't Stop and Domination (Focus), which won the prestigious German Spiel des Jahres game design award.
Other notable works include his books, especially A Gamut of Games and Card Games Around the World; both titles include a large array of rules for games both new and old, and Sackson himself invented a number of the games covered by these works.
Sackson collected games throughout his life; at the time of his death, its size was estimated at over 18000 titles. Many of those were unique, sent to him by hopeful game developers who wanted Sackson's advice. The games were sold at a series of auctions after his death, breaking up the collection. At one point in his life, Sackson turned down an offer to bring his collection elsewhere for permanent safekeeping. I just read this yesterday, but I can't find the site that references it. If anyone finds it before me, feel free to elaborate.
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