Deceased February 22, 2022
View alumni profile (log in required)
In Memory
Tony came to Amherst from Bayside High School. As an undergraduate, Tony joined Phi Gam, majored in political science and was the manager of the varsity soccer team. Seth Frank ’55 remembers Tony: “He had a very appealing chemistry, and I don’t think anyone ever disliked him. Tony was the moving force behind the full-size fire engine Phi Gam acquired junior year. It was capable of starting more fires than it could put out!”
Tony went on to earn an L.L.B. from Columbia and an L.L.M. from NYU School of Law. He practiced corporate law for several years and then joined the legal department of J.B. Williams. He said he had lots of warfare with the FDA and the FTC. Tony retired as general counsel after 22 years when the company was sold. He then took a year off and lived on an old fishing boat, cruising the Caribbean. He had been captaining that vessel as a tuna-fishing charter boat out of Freeport, Long Island, for several years.
Back in New York after the Bahamas year, Tony connected with ESPN, helping to produce several specialized sporting events. He moved to Miami Beach in 1987 and began selling television broadcasting rights to NFL games for ESPN. He retired in 1995 and, for many years thereafter, ran a charter boat operation with his own craft.
Reflecting on his Amherst years, Tony felt his time there was the most important and positive experience of his life. At our 50th reunion in 2005, Tony and Bill Vance arrived in a rented RV in which they lived, situated in the Alumni House parking lot. They invited envious classmates to stop in for a tour. Tony died on Feb. 22, 2022, after a year of declining health.
—Rob Sowersby ’55