Joyce Newman, 74, founder of The Newman Group, New York, who showed professionals and celebrities in the U.S. and abroad how to improve their skills in presentations and media interviews, died Jan. 7.

Joyce NewmanJoyce Newman

Richard Newman, her husband of 47 years, said she had multiple myelomas, an incurable cancer of the blood plasma, which she battled for two years. She died while under hospice care at her home.

An expert speaker, Mrs. Newman frequently addressed industry and association conferences throughout the U.S. on subjects such as managing the media, making powerful presentations, and “selling yourself.” She was known for her “totem belt” which collected notches for senior corporate executives that were “transformed from growling counterproductive lions to grounded, inspiring leaders.”

Newman helped many best-selling authors prepare for national media tours including Ellen Alderman and Caroline Kennedy, In Our Defense; Lorenzo Carcaterra, Sleepers and Apaches; Johnnie Cochran, Journey to Justice; Shirley Conran, Lace; Nicholas Dodman, The Dog Who Loved Too Much; Janet Evanovich, Hard Eight and To The Nines; John Fairchild, Chic Savages; Marilyn French, Her Mother’s Daughter; Victoria Gotten, The Senator’s Daughter; Michael Korda, The Fortune, Curtain and The Immortals; Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, The Nanny Diaries: A Novel; Anne Perry, Traitors Gate and The Sins of the Wolf; and Edward Rutherfurd, Sarum.

Worked with Celebs, Sports Figures

She worked with celebrities and sports figures such as Kristi Yamaguchi, Naomi Judd, Gabrielle Reece, Christie Brinkley, Garth Brooks, Fabio, Herbie Hancock, Eva Mendes, Gabriela Sabatini, Mr. T and Randy Travis. She was very proud of her select pro bono efforts including working with Emily Whitehead, the first pediatric patient to receive genetically modified T-cells for the treatment of leukemia, said Richard Newman.

Tony Morris, psychic medium, paid tribute to Joyce in a posting on his website.

Johnny Cochran's wife, Dale Mason, emailed Richard Newman saying that "Although Joyce worked primarily with Johnnie, she touched me greatly and I felt like I was the beneficiary of her wise counsel to him."

Mentoring young female executives was very important to Newman, said her husband. She took many young, professional women under her wing, guiding them on everything from how to dress, to how to have difficult conversations in the workplace to how to stand up for themselves and get ahead without putting others down.

Newman had a zest for life on every level, said Richard Newman. “She loved to go to the movies and the theater, was an avid reader, reveled in staying up to date on current events and pop culture, enjoyed time with friends and was a great lover of the game Scrabble for which she was known to beat the Scrabble brain on her iPad.”

Originally from Great Neck, New York, she was the daughter of Jack and Paula Meyer. Her parents were Jewish Immigrants from Lithuania and Holland. She attended and graduated from Great Neck North High School.

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Newman held an M.A. from New York University, a Certificate of Clinical Competency from the American Speech & Hearing Association and a Speech/Language Practitioner License from New York State. Elected to Women Executives in Public Relations, she was a member of the Financial Women’s Assn., Public Relations Society of America and Women in Communications.

Surviving are their daughter, Wendi, and sister, Rona. The Newman Group continues as an active business.

Contributions in lieu of flowers are requested. Donations may be made to “MSK” and marked “In Memory of Joyce Newman” to "Plasma Cell DisorderFund”, c/o Maria-Pia Rivero, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 885 Second Avenue, 7th Fl, New York, NY 10017. Credit card payments may be made to Maria-Pia Rivero at 646-227-7146 or [email protected]