Neil Rabens
Neil Walter Rabens (June 27, 1929-May 18, 2020) was an inventor of the mat game Twister, along with Charles Foley.
Early life
Neil Walter Rabens was born on June 27, 1929, in St. Paul, Minnesota[1]
Career
Neil Rabens was working as an artist and cartoonist when he and prolific game designer Chuck Foley were hired by Reynolds Guyer.[2] Rabens and Foley began working at the Reynolds Guyer Agency of Design in St. Paul in the mid-1960s.[3][4] Guyer worked with Rabens and Foley to expand on his idea for a game that he was working on, which he initially "Pretzel", but as this title was already in use the changed the name to Twister, so Foley and Rabens applied for a U.S. patent on April 14, 1966.[2] Rabens sketched the drawings that appeared on the patent as well as the original box for Twister.[4]
Rabens also painted custom signs and murals, and worked as an author, writing and illustrating several children's books, and a musician he played guitar and banjo.[2] Rabens continued for decades to receive letters in the mail asking for autograph, and said that he could not help but shake his head in response.[3][4]
Personal life
Rabens served as a church deacon and taught classes for children, and Rabens and his wife were foster parents for 37 children of different backgrounds for more than a decade.[2]
Rabens died in 2020.[2]
References
- ^ "Neil Walter Rabens of Mora, Minnesota". methvenfurenalhome.
- ^ a b c d e McLeod, Susanna (2025-10-08). "Twister has tied people up in knots for generations". The Kingston Whig-Standard. Archived from the original on 2025-11-02. Retrieved 2025-11-02.
- ^ a b McShane, Kelsey (2014-06-10). "Twister inventor shares story of 'sex in a box'". Springfield News-Leader. Archived from the original on 2025-11-02. Retrieved 2025-11-02.
- ^ a b c Huppert, Boyd (2014-06-09). "Inventor of Twister still amazed by game's success: In 1966, he was part of the team that invented the game Twister". WKYC. Archived from the original on 2025-11-02. Retrieved 2025-11-02.