ARNOLD GOODMAN

GOODMAN--Arnold P. Arnold P. Goodman, a long-time literary agent and entertainment industry lawyer, and adored husband, father and grandfather, died on September 20, 2019 in New York, the city of his birth, and his home for the entirety of his 87 years. Raised in Queens, he was the son of Herbert Goodman, a dentist, and Pauline Diamond Goodman, an interior designer. His younger brother, Richard Goodman, was a professor of Geological Engineering at the University of California at Berkeley. Arnold graduated from Forest Hills High School and Yale University, class of 1953, where he majored in history and sang with the Apollo Glee Club. After college, he was drafted into the Army and posted to Germany. Upon his return to New York, he forged his career as a lawyer, gaining his J.D. from Fordham University in 1959. Over the span of his career, he represented actors, writers, sportscasters and other entertainers, while working for agencies in New York, Los Angeles and London. In the early 1970s, he served as general counsel for a company in the then-emerging industry of video on demand. It was ahead of its time and the company folded, but the entrepreneurial inclination stuck: Arnold later launched the independent literary agency, Goodman Associates, joining forces with his wife, Elise. Together, they represented writers and nurtured major titles including the "What To Expect When You're Expecting" series of books for new parents, the Moosewood Restaurant cookbooks, and a range of novels from literary figures in Australia. During the 1980s, he served as president of the Independent Literary Agents Association, a leading trade group that later became the Association of Authors' Representatives, Inc. Throughout his life, Arnold pursued a passion for music, singing in the New York Choral Society and the Collegiate Chorale, while regularly attending the opera. He was an avid golfer, tennis player, and all-around sports enthusiast -- a Brooklyn Dodgers fan who embraced the Mets after his beloved Bums fled the city, and an unshakeable devotee of the New York football giants. In his later years, he and Elise turned the beams of a 19th century Dutch barn into the bones of a soaring, modern farmhouse that was featured on the cover of Dwell Magazine. His days there were full of joy -- tending to his garden, swimming in the pond, and delighting in his grandchildren. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Elise Simon Goodman, their daughter, Emily Austin Goodman, their son, Peter Simon Goodman, their son-in-law, Joseph Kaufman, their daughter-in-law, Deanna Fei, and their five grandchildren: Leah Simon Goodman, 20, Eli Isaac Goodman, 18, Sasha Kaufman, 10, Leo Fei-Goodman, 8, and Mila Fei- Goodman, 6. A funeral will be held at 3pm on Monday, September 23, at the Plaza Jewish Community Chapel, 630 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10024.