Alan Jay Heller

. . .two years later and still missing those yellow socks. Susan Messer

Hi Alan, Ever since you left us, I keep seeing signs of you all over Brooklyn, where I now live. A set of mugs here; dinner plates there. As beautiful today as they were when you introduced them. And, as distinctive. Just like you!

I send my friendship, which extends back 50 years. You will be remembered.......

I kept in meet & greet thru it tge years. He was always kind & conversation as we shared a common thread of being almost neighbors from WP. Sadly I'll miss his warm smile. SH

Dear Barbara and Family, I was so saddened to hear about Alan. My condolences go out to all of you. I have so many memories of Alan, but there is one that stands out more than the others. When Matthew and I started our business, and did not have enough chairs or dinner plates for a dinner party we were throwing in our store, I asked Alan if we could borrow a dozen Bellini Chairs and a set of Hellerware. He told me to come over to the Fifth Avenue Showroom and pick them up. When I got...

I had worked on and off for Alan for 15 years. Simply said it was "boot camp". More so for life than for work. Alan had a great impact on me and how I viewed the world. Much of my success and what enriches me is due to my time with Alan. I will never forget the pastrami sandwiches and I will always think of him fondly.

Alan was a sparkling, joyful foundational block in my development as a designer and as a person. A debonaire, charming, handsome, generous dude who had many kind words and a humorous skeptical outlook - plus, he always looked me in the eye! He made us, well, he made everyone, laugh. He was wide eyed and curious about design, people, life. He amplified life - he made it bigger and more fun, and he raised my expectations of what was possible. His support was key to my early development, but oh...

I remember two big events in my life in 1971: I became housewares editor of Home Furnishings Daily and I met Alan Heller. That was the year Alan introduced Massimo Vignelli's plastic dinnerware in the US and we put it on page one of the daily newspaper. It was the first color photo we printed. I can still see the stacks of exquisite plates, bowls and mugs we set up for the shot. Alan educated me about the housewares business and he taught me about good design and good taste, which I sorely...

Alan was an important figure in my life from the age of five when he and my mom were partners for about six years in the late 1980s. They remained close friends until her untimely passing (2005), and often included me as I was growing up in their signature "soup & a shine" lunches (a winter's bowl of soup followed by a shoe shine), or other adventures. Though I didn't see Alan frequently in my teen years, once when I was 14 or 15 and my mom was out of town he invited me solo to Seder and for...