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Howard
Neu officiating Brittany and Davd's wedding
in 2012.
They gave us a beautiful new granddaughter
that turned 1-year-old just last week.
Howard
was one of the most intelligent and
multi-talented people I've ever met. They
say that cats have nine lives but
they had nothing on Howard Neu who led professional
lives as an accountant, attorney, judge,
city councilman, mayor, TV host, actor,
singer, domain investor, conference producer
and community builder. That's 11 and
I've probably missed a few more.
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Still,
it's not the quantity that is so
impressive, it is the fact that he
did everything so well. He
was a true modern day Renaissance
Man, a term that is defined as
"one who has a broad knowledge of the arts, the sciences and the world at large. It
implies a person whose curiosity was not limited to one esoteric field, but encompassed
all arenas of human thought."
Now,
that may sound like hyperbole that
few could meet if put the test but,
from personal experience, I almost
think the person who provided the
definition met Howard
somewhere along the way. On beach
vacations we would sometimes take
off and walk for hours on Sarasota's
Siesta Key talking
about one thing after another - it
could be any subject under the
sun.
Every time |
Municipal
Judge Howard Neu presiding
in the North Miami city
courtroom in 1975. |
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I would bring up
something interesting I had read,
confident that he would by surprised
to hear it, Howard would not only
reply that yes, he knew about that,
but would then proceed to fill me
in on all kinds of things about
the subject that I didn't know." It was astonishing and
of course, aggravating, but I still
loved it! :-) |
Now,
if you still don't believe Howard was a
Renaissance Man, check out his outfit below!
Admittedly, he had a good excuse on this
particular occasion when he was called on to
serve as the Grand Marshal in the
North Miami Winternational Thanksgiving Day
Parade and that required dressing up like Marc
Antony. Still, I would bet that Howard never
gave that costume back!
I
won't go into all of the details of
Howard's life story here, as we already
covered most of that in a 2009 DNJournal
Cover Story about him that remains
one of the most popular profiles we've
published over the past 20 years. However, I
do want to share some highlights for
those who didn't have the opportunity to meet
him, so you can see how this remarkable man
came to be so knowledgeable in so many different fields.
Howard
went to high school at Florida's North
Miami High, then went to the University
of Florida to spend 3 years as a Gator
before transferring to the University of
Miami for his senior year. After graduation
at UM, he stayed over
to earn a law degree by taking night classes
while working as an accountant (his college
major) during the day to pay for tuition.
After getting his law degree and winning that judicial appointment in North Miami, Howard
dove into the world of politics.
Howard
Neu running a winning race for a seat on the North
Miami City Council in 1975.
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That
started with the young judge running
for City Council and, armed
with a push broom and a sharp
intellect, he won a four-year term in
office. The next logical step was to
run for Mayor. Howard won that
race too, then for good measure, he did
it again when he ran for a second
term.
A
lot of TV shows and films were being
shot in the Miami area and, as a local
mayor, Howard met a lot of
influential people in the
entertainment world. He started
getting invitations to perform as word
spread that he had acted on stage and was also an
exceptional
singer. The latter talent brought
Howard an invitation to sing the National
Anthem at a Miami Dolphins
game against the Green Bay Packers.
Howard
also earned speaking roles in
feature
films that decided to shoot in his
town, including a role as the biology
teacher in Porky's II
(the sequel to the wildly popular
comedy Porky's). On
other movie sets he got to rub
shoulders with Burt Reynolds, John
Saxon and a number of other stars. |
Howard
Neu coming off the field at
Miami's
Joe Robbie Stadium after singing the
National Anthem |
Sill, for a guy
who admitted his original dream was to become
a rock star, nothing beat having people
like Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees
drop by the mayor's office!
Bee
Gees member Maurice Gibb visiting North Miami
Mayor Howard Neu.
To
show you just just how much of a positive
impact Howard made everywhere he went and in
everything he did, the city of North Miami
is flying their flags at half staff for the
next week in his honor.
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Having
enjoyed success in politics, Howard
decided it was time to pivot and take
full advantage if his law degree in
private practice. It was in that
capacity that Howard happened to cross
paths with the The Domain King,
Rick
Schwartz, in 1999. Howard
had been involved in a highly
publicized case that had implications
for the newly emerging field of domain
investment where Rick was a pioneer.
In that role, Howard, along with
John Berryhill and Ari
Goldberger, became the most widely
known attorneys who had expertise in
legal matters involving domains.
Collectively, they were known as the Three
Amigos and they played a
critical role in protecting domain
owner's rights at a time they were
under ferocious assault. |
Howard
Neu and Rick Schwartz |
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Howard
and Rick's relationship blossomed into
a full partnership and in October
2004 they launched the industry's first
major conference for domain investors
- T.R.A.F.F.I.C. - with an event
that would change the trajectory of
the business in a dramatic way -
propelling it into the high orbit it
maintains today. T.R.A.F.F.I.C. had an
extraordinarily influential 10-year
run that ended when Rick entered semi-rertirement while
Howard, wife Barbara and son Ray moved
forward with new shows under their
own banners (Merge! and The
Domain Conference).
Howard
Neu, Barbara Neu and Ray Dillman Neu
at the
2015 edition of THE Domain
Conference in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida.
While
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. and the conferences that
followed provided a great opportunity to
meet key players in person and learn the
ins and outs of the industry, perhaps
the most valuable role they played was
accelerating the creation of a global
community of domain investors and
developers. Bringing people with a
unique kinship together produced,
through their increasing numbers and
solidarity, the kind of political
clout needed to protect the interests of its
members. That in turn assures the kind
of stability needed to attract further
investment and spreads recognition of
quality domains as high value assets.
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Today
we have a strong Internet
Commerce Association
(ICA) that was born out of the
efforts of insightful pioneers
who kept their eye on what was
needed for the long term success
of the industry. The ICA was
founded at the 2006
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference in
Hollywood, Florida. Howard
Neu and Rick Schwartz
were among the founding
members, putting the
financial support and influence
of T.R.A.F.F.I.C.'s parent
company behind the new
non-profit organization. That is
one of several reasons why the ICA presented
Howard with a Lifetime
Achievement Award in
an emotional webcast in January.
While
Howard was justifiably proud of
the role he, Barbara and Ray
played in moving the domain
industry forward - he was much
prouder of the family that
is grieving his loss now. Howard never tired of talking
about his two daughters - and no wonder
considering the bright,
successful women and loving
mothers that Carol Stolarski and
Wendy Goldberg turned out
to be. |
Howard
Neu's beloved daughters:
Wendy Goldberg (left) and Carol
Stolarski. |
....and
that's just the start of an illustrious
and ever-growing family tree branching
out from Howard.
Above:
Howard surrounded by his daughters
and four grandkids, Clockwise from
Howard are daughter Carol, grandsons
Chad Solarski, Brandon Goldberg, Brian
Goldberg, daughter Wendy and
granddaughter Alexa.
Below:
Now let's talk about great grandkids!
Left to right after Howard are
grandson Brian Goldberg holding great grandson Matthew,
daughter Wendy Goldberg holding grandson Myles and oldest
grandson Brandon Goldberg - four
generations in one photo (picture taken by
Barbara, my favorite photographer).
Below:
Wendy's husband, Ira Goldberg, is not
in the photo above but no story about
this family would be complete without
him, so here we see Ira and Howard all decked
out in their favorite team's gear!
Above:
Howard at the center of some of the
family members who
made a beeline for the cake and desserts
at his 80th birthday party.
After
getting together with Howard and Barbara
countless times through the years the
most memorable one for us will
always be the last one. Barbara wanted to get some close
friends together to take Howard to his
happy place, the beach, one more time.
Our mutual friends, Colin and Kim
Campbell made that possible in a
spectacular way when they brought our group
together at a beautiful beach home they
have on North Captiva Island,
located of Florida's Gulf Coast and
accessible only by boat. We went at the
end of October and it did wonders for
Howard's morale as well as ours,
especially after seeing him go through much over
the previous year.
Left
to right on North Capitiva Island
October 2023: Julie & Joe Foster,
Barbara & Howard Neu, Colin &
Kim Campbell, Diana & Ron Jackson
and, all the way from Australia, Michael
Gilmour and Matt Herbert.
We
talked several times on the phone after
that. When the last call came, three
days before he passed, Howard and
Barbara were both on the line. They were
personally calling family and a few
friends to let them know that hospice
had come into the home. Despite
everything he went through and how sick
he was, Howard still wanted to personally
say goodbye. That is who he
is and how strong his spirit remained
at that late stage.
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When the next call came
from Barbara to let us know he
was gone, there was one uplifting
note. Howard, who loved piano
music, had heard about
"music therapy" being
helpful for those suffering from
pain, both mental and physical.
Before they had a chance to look
further into it, and with |
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Howard's condition
worsening, Barbara quickly
improvised. Our mutual friend
(and long-time domain investor),
Rob Grant, is a very
talented pianist and recording
artist who released his first
album, Lost at Sea,
last year and it went straight to
#1 on Billboard's
Classical Music Chart. With
Howard looking on from the
family room,
Barbara opened the sliding glass
doors to their patio. It was a beautiful
blue sky day with a
nice breeze outside. Barbara put
on Rob's CD and as the beautiful
music played, the wind suddenly
picked up. Howard turned his
head toward the open doors and
closed his eyes. Barbara and the
hospice nurse said they felt a
whoosh
as if the wind was
blowing from the inside out and
at that moment Howard was
gone. |
But
is he really? I don't think so. I know
for sure the memories he left will keep
him with us until we go too - but beyond
that - I believe the show goes on, just on
a different stage - one where our
rock star, Howard Neu, is playing
right now.
So,
dear friend, we'll say goodbye for
now, but we will catch up again at the
next stop down the line!
Howard
& Barbara Neu, Diana & Ron
Jackson - all together on the beach one
last time. |
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