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| Richard Bates |
Richard Bates, longtime head of government relations at Walt Disney Co., died Dec. 31. He was 70.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek and executive chairman Bob Iger, issued a joint statement saying Bates was “second to none--in his field--widely respected for his incredible achievements and beloved for his extraordinary kindness, compassion and irresistible wit.”
Bates was “passionate about his work and approached it with the same astuteness and unwavering enthusiasm he demonstrated with he first joined Disney three decades ago,” said Chapek and Iger. “For those lucky enough to heave known Richard personally, his loss is profound.”
Prior to Disney, Bates was executive chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Andy Stanton, who was director of finance at Stanton PR, died Nov. 12 in New York. He was 39.
Kassie Canter, a media and entertainment PR veteran, died October 24 in New York. She was 67.
Leo Pearlstein, the “king of culinary PR,” died on Sept. 10 in Los Angeles at the age of 104.
Tim Metz, who joined Hill & Knowlton in 1989 after a 23-year career at the Wall Street Journal died Aug. 15. He was 86.
Bill Murray, who had been with MikeWorldWide for 35 years (most recently as EVP/national director, public affairs), has passed away at 67 after a battle with cancer.
