KATZ REMEMBERED FOR PHILANTHROPY
Tributes to Lewis Katz poured in from prominent figures in sports, media, politics, business and education, reflecting the wide range of his interests and charitable endeavors. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called him “a visionary”; the Yankees held a moment of silence before Sunday’s game. Temple University recalled his recent advice to graduates to “have as much fun as you can conjure up.”
“He was a visionary businessman who touched the lives of so many with his tireless pursuit of innovation and enterprise, as well as his deep commitment to his family, friends and community,” Silver said in a statement.
Katz had recently given $25 million to Temple University for its medical school, and had previously given $15 million to another alma mater, Dickinson Law School, where he had graduated first in his class.
He also supported the Boys & Girls Clubs in Camden, along with many Jewish charities. Katz recently helped fund a charter school in impoverished Camden.
“There are so many organizations that he endowed, many anonymously,” Philadelphia Inquirer editor Bill Marimow said.
Marimow described Katz as a brilliant man and generous philanthropist who developed a love for journalism from a college stint working for the syndicated columnist Drew Pearson.
“That really inspired an appreciation and a love for journalism that lasted his whole life,” Marimow said.
His wife, Marjorie, died in December. His survivors include his son, daughter Melissa, and several grandchildren.
— Associated Press
Philadelphia Inquirer co-owner Lewis Katz was killed along with six other people in a fiery plane crash in Massachusetts, just days after reaching a deal that many hoped would end months of infighting at the newspaper and help restore it to its former glory.
The 72-year-old businessman’s Gulfstream corporate jet ran off the end of a runway, plunged down an embankment and erupted in a fireball during a takeoff attempt Saturday night at Hanscom Field outside Boston, authorities said. There were no survivors.
Katz was returning to New Jersey from a gathering at the home of Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. Also killed was a next-door neighbor of Katz, Anne Leeds, a 74-year-old retired preschool teacher he had invited along; and Marcella Dalsey, the director of Katz’s son’s foundation.
The identities of the other victims weren’t immediately released. Nancy Phillips, Katz’s longtime partner and city editor at the Inquirer, was not aboard.
Investigators said it was too soon to say what caused the crash.
Katz made his fortune investing in parking lots and the New York Yankees’ cable network. He once owned the NBA’s New Jersey Nets and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, and in 2012 became a minority investor in the Inquirer.
Last Tuesday, Katz and former cable magnate Harold H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest struck a deal to gain full control of the Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News and Philly.com by buying out their fellow owners for $88 million — an agreement that ended a very public feud over the Inquirer’s business and journalism direction.
Lenfest said Sunday that the deal will be delayed but will still go through.
“We’ll lose his expertise, but the paper will continue because we both intended to put a new CEO in charge of the day-to-day operations,” Lenfest said. Katz’s son, Drew, will take his father’s seat on the board of directors, Lenfest said.
When bidding on the company, Katz and Lenfest vowed to fund in-depth journalism and retain the Inquirer’s Pulitzer-winning editor, Bill Marimow.
Leeds’ husband, James P. Leeds Sr., town commissioner of Longport, N.J., said he received a text message from his wife four minutes before the crash saying they were about to take off.
Dalsey’s daughter, Chelsea Dalsey, said her mother was on the plane, but declined to comment further. Marcella Dalsey was also president of KATZ Academy Charter school, which she founded with Lewis Katz.
The plane was carrying four passengers, two pilots and a cabin attendant, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. NTSB investigator Luke Schiada said a witness reported the plane never got off the ground.
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said Katz had invited him on the flight, but Rendell had another commitment. Rendell said Katz had been thrilled by the Inquirer deal and died at “maybe the high point of his life.”
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