Today's news has an interesting story about how the family of businessman / donor Avery Fisher reached a settlement with the management of Lincoln Center to take his name off of the New York Philharmonic's Avery Fisher Hall to free it up for a new, presumably much larger donor.
This story resonates with me for two reasons. First, attaching your name to an important building is an excellent way to retain historical significance. Our rankings puts Avery Fisher at 199,082, meaning he ranks among the top quarter of Wikipedia figures. The company where he made his money (Fisher Radio) has long since been absorbed, and his name is no longer that of an active brand. Giving up his name on the building will condemn his fame to decline with time consistently with other mortals.
Avery Fisher in important to me because my father Morris Skiena worked for him as a radio repairman early on, at a time when Fisher had only three employees. Indeed in this 1946 Fortune Magazine article about Fisher, my father is the guy at the bench with his back to you on the lower left of page 161.
My father knew the future was television, not radio. So, by employing the business sense that Skienas are famous for, Dad left the company before Fisher hit it big to become a television repairman. I get reminded of this story every time I pass Avery Fisher Hall. I still call other city landmarks by their old, honest names: the PanAm Building, the Triborough Bridge, and the RCA building in Rockefeller Center, so I suspect it will always be Avery Fisher Hall to be regardless of which swell ultimately coughs up the dough to choose its name.
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