PETER FISHBEIN

FISHBEIN--Peter. Peter Fishbein, beloved husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend died on September 25, 2025 at his home in Harrison, New York. He was 91. Born in New York City on June 20, 1934, he attended Mt. Vernon High School, Dartmouth College, and Harvard Law School. Serving as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice William Brennan was an early formative experience; in that role he worked on the Court's seminal decision enforcing integration of the Little Rock, Arkansas, schools in 1958, engaged in other leading constitutional cases of the day, and formed deep relationships with Justice Brennan and other clerks that endured for a lifetime. As Managing Partner of the law firm Kaye Scholer, he led the firm's rapid growth and international expansion into China and Europe, while also litigating some of the top cases in the country. The firm later merged to form Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer. He was active in government and politics throughout his life. Some highlights include serving as Deputy Secretary General of the International Peace Corps in the Kennedy Administration and as a political aide to Robert Kennedy during his Senate and Presidential campaigns. One of his prized photographs pictures him and Robert Kennedy campaigning together in Bend, Oregon, in 1968 days before Kennedy's assassination. His public service included serving on the boards of such important institutions as the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU, White Plains Hospital, SUNY Purchase, and the I Have a Dream Foundation, and teaching stints at NYU Law School (where for years he taught a course on First Amendment rights) and Middlebury College. Peter was an avid and accomplished athlete, with a passion for tennis and paddle tennis, and he regularly won club tournaments in these sports at Beach Point Club, where he also served on the Board of Governors. Peter and his wife, Bette Klinghoffer Fishbein, were smitten with Cape Cod as a summer family retreat where he could be found cycling, clamming, body surfing, and sipping Appletinis with three generations of Fishbeins into his late 80s. Above all he was devoted to his family. He married Bette in 1957. Inseparable to the end, they shared an active life of travel, tennis, cycling trips through Europe and Asia, a busy schedule of social engagements with friends near and far, and hosting regular family gatherings where Peter tended bar and ensured everyone had fun. He took great pride in his three sons (Stephen, Bruce, and Gregory Fishbein), his daughters-in-law (Sara Shields, Jennifer Baker, and Alicia Volk), and his seven grandchildren (Maggie Shields and Daniel, Benjamin, Lauren, Ethan, Leonora, and Sylvia Fishbein), and was especially proud that several attended his alma mater, Dartmouth College. All these relatives survive him. His dear brother, Richard Fishbein, predeceased him in 2014. Peter was a force of nature for good in the world who lived life to the fullest, and for this remains an inspiration to all who knew him. A memorial service will be held in his honor with details to follow.