Arthur L. Iger

IGER - Arthur L., an advertising and publishing executive, college professor and author of a well-respected guide to American popular composers and lyricists of the 20th century, died in Port Jefferson, N.Y, Sunday. He was 84. The cause was a heart attack, said his son Robert. Mr. Iger, who served in the U.S. Navy aboard a submarine chaser in World War II, was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. During the 1940s, he was a professional jazz trumpeter. Mr. Iger's professional career included stints at the advertising agency, Cunningham and Walsh, Macmillan Publishing and Greenvale Marketing Corp. After retiring, he became an adjunct professor of marketing and advertising at the New York Institute of Technology. It was Mr. Iger's deep love of jazz and Tin Pan Alley that led him to write "Music of the Golden Age, 1900-1950 and Beyond: A Guide to Popular Composers and Lyricists" in 1998. The book was praised as a valuable and enaging guide to the work of such major songwriters as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and Richard Rogers. Mr. Iger also served as a member of the Oceanside School Board and was active in supporting Long Beach Reach and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Arthur Lawrence Iger was born April 13, 1926 in Brooklyn, the son of Joseph Iger and Eva Zwern. He is survived by his spouse Mimi, whom he married in 1947, and by his son Robert A. Iger, the president and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, and his spouse Willow Bay, and his daughter, Carolyn Iger, owner of Grapes in Port Jefferson, and her spouse, Eli Zamek. In addition, Mr. Iger is survived by his grandchildren; Jenny Gammons and her husband Matt Gammons; Katie Iger and her husband Jarrod Cushing; Amanda Iger; Jordan and Jessica Tsunis; Max and Will Iger; Colleen Matuza; Paul Winkler, and Jamie Berland. He was the great-grandfather of Bobby and Jack Gammons and Hayden Cushing. "My father was a very special man, filled ith curiosity and passion and a true lover of jazz, but above all, he adored his family, his wife, his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He was truly blessed and he will be deeply missed", said Robert A. Iger. The family will receive guests on Wednesday, May 26th from 11:00 am- 4:00 pm with a special tribute to Mr. Iger at 11:30 a.m. at the Belle Terre Community Center, 55 Cliff Road, Belle Terre, New York. Donations in Mr. Iger's memory should be made to the Southern Poverty Law Center and Long Beach Reach.