Charles Lawrence Mandelstam

MANDELSTAM--Charles Lawrence, 80, of Manhattan and North Salem, NY, died of leukemia on August 31, 2007. He was born July 6, 1927, in Brookline, MA. He was a student at the Mount Hermon School and later a member of its Board of Trustees. After serving in the U.S. Army at the end of WWII, he continued his education via the GI Bill. He was graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1949, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and Yale Law School in 1952, where he was Comment Editor of the Yale Law Journal. At Yale he met his wife of 50 years, Gloria Messinger Mandelstam (Yale Law School 1954), who for 12 years was the CEO of the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). He had a lifelong belief in the rule of the law. His first job was at the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. Next he went to Kaye Scholer, then on for 36 years to the firm that became Dornbush, Mensch, Mandelstam & Schaeffer, of which he was a founder and leader. Finally, he moved to McLaughlin & Stern, where he worked until the last months of his life. He represented filmmakers Fred Wiseman and Michael Roemer; architects including Sam Brody, Lewis Davis, and Philip Johnson; psychoanalysts including Marianna Kris and Anna Freud; and authors including Betty Friedan, Gloria Emerson, and Jane Bryant Quinn. He also represented the Marilyn Monroe estate and the Rubin Museum of Art. He was an expert in complex trusts and estates and represented the Aaron Diamond Foundation and the Samuel Rubin Foundation. On behalf of American clients, he provided financial and strategic support to South African lawyers representing anti-apartheid activists. He sued the United States government on behalf of a number of prominent clients to compel production of FBI and CIA documents under the Freedom of Information Act. His interests were broad and diverse; he was always open to new experiences. An enthusiast of French wine and food, he organized in 1970 and led a group that bought a vineyard in Cote Rotie that became Domaine de Bonserine and produced awardwinning vintages. He was instrumental in establishing the North Salem Open Land Foundation, where he worked tirelessly to conserve the natural beauty of the historic rural town he adopted as his second home. An avid photographer, a lover of classical music, and a passionate collector of Mocha pottery, he became an accomplished folk artist in his seventies. A wonderfully devoted husband, father, and grandfather, he is survived by his wife; his daughter Emily Mandelstam and son-in-law Paul Engelmayer; his son Peter Mandelstam and daughter-in-law Dawn Drzal; and three grandchildren, Caroline and William Engelmayer and Andrew Mandelstam. He also leaves scores of loving and admiring friends. Services will be held on Tuesday, September 4th at 1:30 pm at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home at 1076 Madison Avenue at 81st Street. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations in his memory be sent to the North Salem Open Land Foundation, P.O. Box 176, North Salem, New York, 10560 or to the Hematology and Medical Oncology Research Fund -Dr. Eric Feldman, New YorkPresbyterian Hospital, 525 East 68 Street, New York, New York, 10065.