Marty Sklar was a student at UCLA and editor of the Daily Bruin student newspaper in 1955 when he was recruited a month before Disneyland opened to create The Disneyland News, a small town newspaper that would be sold at the park on Main Street for ten cents. After graduating in 1956, he joined Disney full time as a member of the Publicity Department at Disneyland. Walt Disney told Marty he had something more important in mind for him, and in 1961 Marty was moved to WED Enterprises the forerunner of Walt Disney Imagineering where he worked on attractions for the 1964-65 New York World s Fair. Marty took on this role while also writing personal materials for Walt Disney for use in publications, on television, and in special films, including the important film introducing Walt s vision for Walt Disney World and the EPCOT project. After Walt s passing in 1966, Marty became instrumental in making Walt s vision a reality. By 1974, Marty, as vice president of concepts and planning, guided the creative development of EPCOT Center (now Epcot). For another three decades, Marty remained the creative leader of Walt Disney Imagineering. He served as Vice-president, President, and Vice Chairman and Principal Creative Executive during the design and construction of nine of the twelve Disney parks. Marty was named Imagineering Ambassador in 2006 and he retired on July 17, 2009 Disneyland s fifty-fourth birthday. In his retirement, Marty remained active in themed entertainment, consulting, mentoring, and authoring his first two books on his Disney experiences. Marty passed away in 2017 but his legacy lives on in all the Disney parks worldwide.