Curt Vendel, 1966 – 2020

Anthropologist Margaret Mead famously noted that,“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Curt Vendel, Atari collector and historian passed away unexpectedly on August 30, at age 53, was one of these ‘committed citizens,’ a walking one man archive of Atari history. Vendel was the guiding light behind the Atari History Museum, an online and physical archive of over 15,000 documents from Atari, which he in many cases rescued from oblivion as part of a lifetime of intense collecting efforts. The collection also includes “information, images and personal stories on all items produced by Atari as well as news and links to further assist any and all individuals interested in learning more about the company that helped to pioneer and shape many areas of Video Arcade Entertainment, Home Consumer Electronics, Personal Computer Systems and much, much more.” The Museum is celebrating its 40th year. Vendel was known to be kind, outgoing, and generous with his time. His loss will be keenly felt by the retrogaming and history of computing community. He leaves behind his wife Michelle and daughter Madison, a college freshman.

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