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DECEMBER 2005

Remembering Preston Robert Tisch
by Pola Rosen, Ed.D.

I will always remember Bob Tisch as he sat at lunch with me at the Regency, recovering from neurosurgery and dynamic as ever. “Hi Tiki,” he called to the football great from across the room in the midst of answering my questions about his early days in Lakewood, light years away from the sophisticated hotel he now owned. It seemed that everyone entering for lunch that day in the nearly packed Regency restaurant on Park Avenue in Manhattan came to pay homage to Bob, asking about the Giants, the family, Bob’s health or some incubating business deal.

While eating and answering questions, Bob kept a sharp eye on the room, signaling the hostess to come over to ask why patrons were not being seated more rapidly. We spoke of his commitment to rebuilding athletic fields for every school in New York City and the local community pride that ensued following his successful endeavors in raising more than $130 million.

The Tisch family philanthropy is legendary: from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts and the Tisch Library at Tufts University to “Take Back the Fields.” The latest Tisch benevolence is the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University. Bob contributed to the life of the community in many other ways: as U.S. postmaster general, NYC ambassador to Washington DC, Chair of the NY Convention and Visitors Bureau and co-owner of the NY Giants. Bob and his brother Larry, captains of industry, owned the Loews Hotel chain as well.

A month ago, Laurie, his only daughter was awarded the Town Hall Medal in recognition of her founding and funding the Center for Arts Education and the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. Bob’s absence at the family table was palpable, signaling declining health.

He died just a short time later with his entire loving family gathered round. His New York City granddaughters  visited every day during his last months, one traveling in daily from Yale University. His son Steve moved from Los Angeles to New York to be at his father’s side for the last six months and share in the Giants operation with brother Jonathan.

During a visit to pay my respects to the family after his death, Laurie and her daughters were wearing a precious gift from Bob: gold and diamond necklaces commemorating the New York Giants going to Super Bowl XXXV in 2001. On the Sunday of my condolence visit, the team won. Bob would have reveled in the thought of his family savoring the victory of his team and the sport he loved so much, symbolic of the victory of his life, triumphant in the legacy he left behind.

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