The Wall Street Journal - 07.03.2020 - 08.03.2020

A12| Saturday/Sunday, March 7 - 8, 2020 **** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

HERB GOLDSMITH

1927—

Members Only Mogul

Hit Gold With Jackets

H

erb Goldsmith was looking
for a new brand for his
clothing business in the
1970s when he noticed a sign at
his country club: Members Only.
Perfect, he thought.
All the New York-based entre-
preneur needed was a garment
worthy of the label. At a mens-
wear shop in Munich, he spotted a
jacket with epaulettes and a
Nehru-style collar. He made a
sketch and then designed a varia-
tion with a strap to hold the collar
shut. The fabric was a shiny
chintz. It came in colors including
rust, camel, robin’s egg blue, teal
and pewter.
Mr. Goldsmith, who died Feb. 22
at age 92, had the biggest hit of
his career. The Members Only
jacket was a strong seller for most
of the 1980s and has a lingering
retro appeal. (It popped up in the
“Sopranos” and “Will & Grace” TV
series.) On the advice of one of his
daughters, Mr. Goldsmith hired
Anthony Geary, a star of the soap
opera “General Hospital,” to ap-
pear in ads. Female admirers of
the actor prodded their husbands
or boyfriends to buy the jacket,
Mr. Goldsmith said.
Fashion was show business, said
Mr. Goldsmith, an amateur actor
during his college years. “You’re
the director,” he told salespeople.
“Those garments are the actors.
Your showroom is your set, and
the buyers are the audience.”
The Gatlin Brothers, country
music crooners, also appeared in
Members Only ads. By 1986, how-
ever, Mr. Goldsmith feared celeb-
rity endorsements were getting
stale. An advertising agency sug-
gested something radically differ-
ent: Public-service ads on TV and
radio to discourage use of illegal
drugs, with a brief mention of the
Members Only brand at the end.
In one of those ads, New York
Yankees manager Lou Piniella in-

toned: “If you’re dumb enough to

take drugs, you’ll never be a mem-

ber of my club.”

In another, a New Jersey Nets

basketball star, Buck Williams,

said: “You want to wreck your life

with cocaine? Then I got news for

you, buddy, you’re a loser.”

Mr. Goldsmith saw the ads as a

gamble. They paid off, both in

higher jacket sales and accolades

from people who liked the mes-

sage, including Nancy Reagan, who

sent him a thank-you note.

H

erbert Martin Goldsmith

was born Sept. 3, 1927, in

New York’s Bronx borough

and grew up there and in Brooklyn.

His father was a traveling sales-

man dealing in men’s coats. His

mother was a glamorous dresser.

In a 2012 memoir, “Only the

Best Will Do!” he recalled being a

“lousy student, sorely lacking in

discipline” in high school. Still, he

was persuasive enough to win a

job announcing high-school sports

scores on a radio station. When he

didn’t know scores, he sometimes

made them up.

Shortly after World War II, the

U.S. Army shipped him to Italy,

where he was assigned to work in

BYJAMESR.HAGERTY a kitchen. He escaped that drudg-
ery by talking his way into a job as
an Armed Forces radio DJ, who
took requests and nicknamed him-
self the Night Watchman.
Back home, he used the GI Bill
to pay his way through Long Island
University, where he acted in plays
and met Dolores Turkel. They mar-
ried in 1952.
After graduating, he failed to es-
tablish a career in acting or as a
creator of TV shows. So he went to
work for his father, by then a part-
ner in a maker of men’s coats,
Chief Apparel. The younger Mr.
Goldsmith expanded the business
by going on the road to sell mer-
chandise to mom-and-pop clothing
stores.
After his father died, Mr. Gold-
smith clashed with his father’s
partner and decided to form his
own business. With a friend, Edwin
Wachtel, he bought a clothing im-
porter, Europe Craft Imports Inc.,
for $15,000.
They found sewing operations in
Germany, Belgium and Italy for
leather jackets, tight “skinny rib”
sweaters, hip-hugger ladies pants
and a line of suits endorsed by the
actor Telly Savalas, whose starring
role in the “Kojak” TV series failed
to ignite sales. When labor costs
soared in the wealthier European
countries, Mr. Goldsmith found
suppliers in Yugoslavia and Hong
Kong.
Marcade Group Inc. bought Eu-
rope Craft in 1987. Mr. Goldsmith
stayed with the company for about
five more years.
Dolores Goldsmith died in 2009.
Mr. Goldsmith is survived by his
second wife, Myrna, three daugh-
ters and four grandchildren.
After leaving the garment busi-
ness, he became an investor in and
producer of Broadway shows, in-
cluding “Glengarry Glen Ross” and
“The Two & Only!”

 Read a collection of in-depth

profiles atWSJ.com/Obituaries

costs. Former colleagues said Mr.

Creighton, who died Jan. 29 at 87

years of age, usually persuaded peo-

ple he faced at the bargaining table

that they shared common interests.

He met his wife Janet at Ohio

State while both were students

there, and they married in 1960. Af-

ter working for a time in Chicago

and Miami, he was recruited by

Weyerhaeuser to work in its real-

estate business.

Mr. Creighton retired from Wey-

erhaeuser in 1997. The next year, R.

Thomas Buffenbarger, retired presi-

dent of the International Association

of Machinists and Aerospace Work-

ers, which represented employees at

both Weyerhaeuser and United who

worked for Mr. Creighton, recom-

mended him to executives at United

Airlines. —Patrick McGroarty

JACK CREIGHTON

1932—

Negotiator Guided

Firms Through Crises

T

he adversaries that gave Jack

Creighton his reputation as a

tough but fair negotiator in-

cluded machinists at United Air-

lines and advocates for the north-

ern spotted owl.

As the first nonfamily member to

run Weyerhaeuser Co. in the 1990s,

he led the timber industry’s opposi-

tion to environmentalists seeking to

preserve forested habitat for the rare

owl. Under a landmark court deci-

sion, millions of acres of owl-nesting

habitat were eventually put off limits

to loggers. Lumber prices soared,

boosting Weyerhaeuser’s bottom line.

At United Airlines, where Mr.

Creighton served as interim CEO at

a difficult time for the industry after

the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks,

he won concessions from pilots and

other workers as the carrier cut

KATHERINE PHILLIPS

1972—

Professor Was a Role

Model to Students

T

aking a bus from Chicago’s

South Side to a largely

white magnet school made

Katherine W. Phillips a lifelong

advocate for the importance of

diversity in education.

Ms. Phillips, a professor and

former senior vice dean at Co-

lumbia Business School, gained

renown for research on how or-

ganizations can manage and max-

imize hiring of employees with

diverse backgrounds.

“She was proud of helping

change the conversation around

diversity,” said her husband Da-

mon Phillips, who is also a pro-

fessor at Columbia Business

School. “She worked hard to vali-

date people who looked different

from other people.”

Ms. Phillips, who died of breast

cancer on Jan. 15 at 47 years old,

took as much pride in her work

with students as she did in her

research, said Adam Galinsky, a

colleague at Columbia Business

School who said he often called

her his big sister.

While she was vice dean, Mr.

Galinsky said African-American

administrators at the school

would bring their daughters just

to see Ms. Phillips in her office. “I

think she understood the sym-

bolic power of being vice dean.”

Ms. Phillips taught thousands

of students who are now leaders

in companies and governments

world-wide. Her courses focused

on leadership and managing

teams, decision making, negotia-

tions and diversity.

—Patrick Thomas

OBITUARIES

ADVERTISEMENT

For over 25 years, The Great Courses has brought the world’s foremost

educators to millions who want to go deeper into the subjects that

matter most. No exams. No homework. Just a world of knowledge

available anytime, anywhere. Download or stream to your laptop or

PC, or use our free apps for iPad, iPhone, Android, Kindle Fire, or

Roku. Over 700 courses available at http://www.TheGreatCourses.com.

Unlock Your Memory’s

Untapped Potential

While all of us have an amazing capacity for memory, there are plenty of times

when it seems to fail us. Why does this happen? And how can you fix it?Scientific

Secrets for a Powerful Memoryexplores the real research on how memory

functions, then applies these findings to help you make the best possible use of the

capabilities you have.

In just six lectures, award-winning Professor Peter M. Vishton of William & Mary

shows you how to remember birthdays and key numbers using the Major System;

how to improve how you study for—and perform on—exams; and so much more.

By tapping into these scientifically proven strategies, tricks, and techniques, you’ll

develop the ability to process information more effectively and remember virtually

anything you want.

Offer expires 03/21/

TGCU  .
/ 5

1-800-832-

Scientific Secrets for a Powerful Memory

Course no. 1965 | 6 lectures (30 minutes/lecture)

Scientific Secrets

for a Powerful Memory

Taught by Professor Peter M. Vishton

W



 & M



U 

 

1. Your Amazing Prehistoric Memory


2. Encoding Information with Images


3. Maximizing Short- and Long-Term Memory


4. Why and When We Forget


5. Keeping Your Whole Brain in Peak Condition


6. Human Memory Is Reconstruction, Not Replay

LI

M

ITE

DTIMEOF

FE

R

70%

O off

R

D

ER

BYMAR

C

H

2

1

U U         

Dr. Peter M. Vishton is Associate Professor of Psychology at

William & Mary. He taught at Northwestern University and served

as the program director for Developmental and Learning Sciences

at the National Science Foundation. In 2012, Professor Vishton

was named one of the best 300 professors in America byThe

Princeton Review.

“This is truly a course that should cost much more. Solid informa-

tion that has application in the real world. Highly recommended.”

—J. Candlemann, East Brunswick, NJ

DVD $99.95 NOW $29.

Instant Video $94.95 NOW $24.

+$5 Shipping & Processing (DVD only) and Lifetime Satisfaction Guarantee

Priority Code: 183545

SAVE UP TO $