Paul Ruben
www.parkworld-online.com
Paul Ruben: A tribute
Park World’s North American editor, Paul Ruben, passed away
peacefully at home on 12 July following a brief, but brave battle with cancer. Here, with the help of his colleagues and friends, Park World editor, Becci Knowles tells the story of his remarkable life in the amusement industry.
Paul very
much believed in experiencing his subject. Park Hoppin’ was a way of life. Age didn’t seem to stop him travelling or riding, always adding to his coaster count. He was a big kid at heart.
I
first met Paul at IAAPA in 2018 and he immediately took me under his wing, introducing me to the world of white-knuckle rides like never-before. “If you’re going to write, you need to ride,” he said. Challenge accepted, we set off for International Drive to take a ride on the world’s tallest StarFlyer, before going next door to the giant wheel, Icon Orlando 360. The following evening, we went to John Arie’s Fun Spot Orlando, where we rode Freedom Flyer, the park’s Vekoma Suspended Family Coaster and White Lightning, GCI’s wonderful woodie, in the front seat. This carefully crafted challenge culminated in what Paul called my “ride of passage”, the SkyCoaster. When it was time to pull the rope, he paused, 76 metres above ground to tell me it was stuck - a joke he apparently liked to play on all new editors! I was clinging on for dear life as he (finally) set us free to fly and in the same moment, put his hands up in the air smiling and said: “Becci, don’t fight the ride, just go with it”. Being in the company of someone who knew everything there was to know about rides, I trusted him. So, I took a deep breath and decided to “go with it”. As I flew to the ground, now smiling and laughing too, I got what it was that he loved about this industry. Some months later I visited PortAventura, where I rode
the Shambhala with someone who was just as terrified as I had been at the top of the SkyCoaster that day and I found myself uttering those same (immortal) words, “don’t fight the ride!” When I arrived home, I called Paul to tell him this story; I wanted him to know just how much he had inspired me during that first IAAPA trip and all the fun I was now having as a result.
I looked forward to hearing about Paul’s travels during our regular phone calls, before reading all about them in his brilliantly written articles, which brought parks I’d never been to and people I had never met to life. Shortly after Paul became ill, Reader’s Digest published an interview with him. “I’ve Been to Every Theme Park in America – And These 13 Are My Favorites,” was the title. IAAPA featured the story in its daily newsletter. Susan Storey, director, global communications later told me it was the most read article for the entire month. Paul was the consummate professional to the end and along with the everyone at Park World and in the wider industry, I shall miss him greatly.
Obituary Paul Lewis Ruben was predeceased by his parents, Harrry and Rose Ruben. Paul is survived by his daughter, Dr. Cherie Ruben (David Green) of Derby, NY, son, Joel (Abbey) Ruben of Fairport, NY, grandchildren, Maisa and Zoë Ruben, and brother, Arnold Ruben (Sandra) of Pittsburgh, PA., a niece, Naomi Pittle, her husband, Dr. Howard Pittle, and two great nephews, Harrison and Merritt, all of Pittsburgh, PA. Paul was a BS and MS graduate of the University of
Six Flags Magic Mountain press event, April 1998
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Rochester’s Institute of Optics. He was an optical engineer and lens designer at Bausch & Lomb, 3M Wollensak, and Eastman Kodak before becoming an independent consultant in lens design. His work resulted in 41 patents in the fields of zoom lens systems, photographic objectives, projection lenses, visual systems, and microscope objectives, and six published papers. During his 29 years at Kodak, he designed the lens systems found in several generations of Pocket Instamatic cameras, available light movie cameras, zoom lenses for movie cameras, and the optical systems in Kodak Instant Cameras. As an independent he developed an ultra-
SUMMER PART 3 2021
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