2007-11-07 - 7:20 p.m.

A fabulous, fun, complicated, talented, generous, handsome man died last week. He was my mentor and inspiration�John Walsh�a PR guy in the best old-school tradition. He taught me everything I know about writing (he was a grammar Nazi!), pitching, placing a story, seeing the big picture, finding the news peg, getting the IMPOSSIBLE on TV�and having FUN with it all. He�s the only boss I�ve ever had who goofed on and gossiped about clients relentlessly, just like the rest of us. John LOVED gossip!

He was a balanced man who knew how to keep things in perspective. A modest multiple talent, he was for many years the skating partner of Olympic gold medalist Sonja Henie, touring with her in the 50�s in her �Hollywood Ice Revue.� After that, he was a senior publicist for CBS, working on many of that network�s specials and series, including the legendary Playhouse 90. He was a showbiz guy and a PR whiz in the Hollywood �press agent� tradition. He worked with Noel Coward, Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Judy Garland, Helen Hayes, Cole Porter, Jack Benny, Rita Hayworth, Ethel Merman�you name it.

During the years I worked with him at John Walsh Associates (originally Addison, Goldstein & Walsh)�I was always amazed and dazzled by him. He had limitless energy. For a time he owned a restaurant in New Hope, PA, called River�s Edge. He would leave our office in Manhattan and go to the restaurant to play host�and play piano! John was an excellent pianist who could always be coaxed into sitting down and playing a lively repertoire of American standards.

John LOVED Broadway musicals. He and his wife Sylvia saw absolutely EVERYTHING. I think John saw A Chorus Line and Company like 12 times!

Here�s how I hooked up with John. I had been working in advertising for years and was looking for a change. A headhunter told me there was an opening for an executive assistant at a PR agency that handled sports marketing projects. Okay, number one, I didn�t even know what PR was! And, number two, I knew NOTHING about sports. But, the headhunter said that the job involved traveling to Palm Springs 4-5 times a year, and I said, �That I can do.�

So, I met John and started traveling with him to Rancho Mirage for the Colgate-Dinah Shore Women�s Golf Championships and the Colgate Triple Crown, which John basically created. It was the beginning of big-time prize money in women�s sports and companies like Colgate were among the first to recognize this growing marketing tool. I worked the press tents, often the only woman in there. The sports writers were gritty and sexist�but it was before the days of all this boring �sexual harassment� nonsense, and I thought they were hysterical. �Hey, Linda�can you get me laid? Do you know any hookers out here?� (The women golfers certainly were NOT interested in them, though a few of them, like Sally Little and Jan Stephenson, winked at ME now and then!)

At night , there were celebrity-studded parties and John personally introduced me to my idol, Lucille Ball. At the time, it was one of the highlights of my life! ME�shaking hands with LUCY..!!

I could go on FOREVER about John�but here are some of my fondest memories:

--John created the Cutty Sark Menswear Awards, the first fashion awards for men�and he arranged all the music and original song lyrics for the annual awards gala. It was delicious watching him work with Tony Randall or Steve Allen or other celebs. That was his element. He loved every minute of it, and I just loved watching him love it so much.

--John represented Chateau Mouton-Rothschild and handled the press for the national tour of the original paintings for the wine labels. We visited major galleries and museums all over the country, and my job was to schedule media interviews for Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, who was a party girl who could show Britney and Paris a thing or two. (She also didn�t wear underwear�and there were many limo-ride �flashes.�) Those were some FUN nights�drinking the best wines, partying with the swells, seeing great art and, of course, John in black-tie, looking like a movie star. He was awesome and charming, and Baroness Philippine adored him.

--John breezing into the office on summer mornings�with his white loafers and matching white belt, short-sleeve shirt, perfectly slicked pompadour. He would buzz me on the intercom and say, �Come unto me!� OR �Step into my chamber!� I just loved being around the guy.

--John handing me back a press release riddled with red-pencil edits! He taught me to write lean and concise, though you�d hardly know it from this entry. �Trim the fat, Linda�get to the point.� And don�t get me started on his �comma� and �semi-colon� lectures!...or the difference between e.g. and i.e.

--John chatting up the old ladies at the outdoor Goldman Band concerts at Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park, which he handled for some 20 years until he retired in 1989.

--John�s secret stash of Kit Kats and Planter�s Peanut Bars�in the bottom left-hand drawer�right next to his stack of polyester button-downs for emergency meetings!

--When I was pregnant, John insisted that I take a cab to and from work, and he bought Elizabeth a playpen. Such a mensch!

Well, it�s been 20 years since I worked with John. In 1987, I went to work for a major fashion PR company, with a mean-spirited boss who made my life a living hell for the next ten years. I missed John EVERY day..!!

I would have lunch with him and Sylvia when they�d come to town for matinees, and we exchanged Christmas cards every year, but that was about it�what with him being out in New Hope and me here.

Today I have my own PR agency. I work out of my apartment in the West Village and, happily, have a decent roster of clients, ALL of whom I really like. But there�s not a day that goes by when I don�t use the PR skills that John taught me and think fondly of the laughs and great times we had. He was one of a kind!


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