Arnold Shapiro (1934–2022)

[excerpted from joinobit.com obituary]
After briefly working as a writer for CBS News in Chicago, Arnold was hired by Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, where he eventually rose to the position of Creative Director. In 1960, he had the idea to bring the beloved characters of Charles Schulz's Peanuts comic strip into the Hallmark brand, and a long-standing partnership with Schulz was formed. In 1968 Arnold co-wrote the lyrics to the Royal Guardsmen's hit song “Snoopy for President.”

Arnold left Hallmark for California in 1972, to work for Buzza-Cardozo Greeting Cards in Anaheim before joining Intervisual Communications, Inc., an international producer of pop-up and novelty books. As a partner, Arnold wrote and produced hundreds of titles and sold to publishers worldwide, several with such celebrated authors and illustrators as Maurice Sendak, Tomie DePaola, Jonathan Miller, and Jan Pienkowski. After Intervisual, Arnold went on to create Compass Productions, another company specializing in novelty books, predominantly for children, and served as its president until his retirement.