Neil R. Wright

A Contrarian Humor
Whether it was his English accent, self-confident manner or natural gift of humor, Neil Wright was always able to draw laughter from the crowd at the Mountain View Chalet, a local bar and restaurant in Asbury, N.J.

Carol Vaughn, a friend and neighbor, remembers meeting Mr. Wright for the first time at the Chalet on a night when she was feeling down. Within minutes of talking to him, she was filled with "the kind of laughing that makes your face hurt," she said.

As a young child, Mr. Wright demonstrated a certain contrarian outlook that may have been the key to his humor. Left to his own devices while the adults chattered in the garden, he painted the family's black Labrador white: "White looks much nicer than black," his mother, Mary Wright, recalls him explaining.

Mr. Wright, 30, moved to the United States five years ago after his employer in London, Cantor Fitzgerald, asked him to transfer to its office in the World Trade Center. He loved his new home, although he told friends he missed certain English foods, like Yorkshire pudding. After he and his wife divorced, Mr. Wright won sole custody of his children, Daniel, 5, and Jack, 3, and his mother moved here to help take care of them.

His favorite way to relax was to ride his canary yellow Aprilla motorcycle. "I used to say, 'Please don't ride that thing; think of me and the children if anything happened,' " his mother said.