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| Richard Goldstein |
Richard Goldstein, a certified public accountant specializing in financial issues affecting the public relations industry, died on February 10. He was 74.
Goldstein’s death was confirmed by his wife, Judy.
For nearly 25 years, Goldstein penned the monthly Financial Management column in O’Dwyer’s magazine, where he discussed tax issues, mergers and acquisitions, business planning and other financial matters impacting the PR industry.
He took over that column from fellow PR industry financial expert Rick Gould, who’d managed the Financial Management page since this magazine’s founding in 1987.
In late 1995, when Gould could no longer write the column, he recommended to O’Dwyer’s founder and editor-in-chief Jack O’Dwyer that Goldstein succeed him. Goldstein’s first O’Dwyer’s article, titled “Eased Documentation Regs Are No Excuse for Lax Record-Keeping,” appeared in our Feb. 1996 issue. He contributed a column to O’Dwyer’s almost every month since.
“I have known Richard for thirty-plus years. I met him as a friendly competitor when I had my CPA firm in the mid-nineties,” Gould told O’Dwyer’s. “He became a friend and colleague, in the same suite of offices at One Penn Plaza. I often referred him as a tax expert. He was smart, opinionated and funny. I will miss him.”
Since 2006, Goldstein had served as a partner at public accounting firm Buchbinder Tunick & Company in Little Falls NJ, where he provided business planning, tax advice and tax return preparation services for privately-held businesses, with a specialized focus on the PR sector.
Prior to joining BT&C, Goldstein was co-managing partner at Tocci, Goldstein & Co. (later Tardino Tocci & Goldstein), which he joined in 1992. He began his career in 1978 at audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG, where he was stationed for 15 years.
Goldstein was additionally an adjunct professor at the Long Island University Graduate School of Business, where he taught accounting and taxation. He previously also taught taxation at New Jersey City University.
Born in Brooklyn, Goldstein attended Baruch College, where he received a BBA in accounting and an MBA in taxation. He resided in Staten Island.
Goldstein’s final column, which discussed home office expenses PR professionals can deduct from their taxes now that many agencies are working remotely in light of to the COVID-19 pandemic, was published in O’Dwyer’s November 2020 edition.
He is survived by his wife Judy, to whom he was married for 50 years, as well as a brother (Frank), two children and three grandchildren.
Peter Costiglio, a top corporate communications executive for more than 40 years, died March 17 after a long-battle with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. He was 76.
Howard Geltzer, who launched New York-based Geltzer & Co., which he ran with his wife, Sheila, died Jan. 7 from a cancer-related illness. He was 88.
Joe Boyd, co-founder and CEO of MCS Healthcare Public Relations, died on December 24 at age 71.
Barbara Hunter, public relations pioneer and founder of New York-based agency HUNTER, passed away on December 18 at age 97.
Bob Marston, who built Robert Marston And Associates and Marston Strategic Communications, died July 14 of respiratory failure. He was 86.
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Feb. 16, 2021, by Christine O’Dwyer, O’Dwyer’s
It is with our deepest sympathy that we remember Richard, who contributed so much to the O’Dwyer’s magazine and all our readers.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Judy, his children, grandchildren and all his family and friends.
His informative and detailed financial articles have been an extraordinary part of our magazine for so long. Jack O’Dwyer, now passed, was always so appreciative of Richard.
What an incredible feat to have contributed his financial column every month for nearly 25 years. That is an amazing accomplishment, while at the same time serving as a partner at Buchbinder Tunick & Company and as a professor teaching accounting and taxation, along with enjoying all his time with his wife and family and all his friends.
As a contributor since the 90s, that is a remarkable achievement. Right now all his articles from 2011 are on O’Dwyer’s website and can be accessed easily.
The O’Dwyer’s staff is so grateful to have known Richard for all these years and for all his financial columns.
He will be sorely missed and never forgotten and he and his family will remain in our thoughts and prayers always.