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That
was Howard's beloved son-in-law and fellow football
fanatic, Ira Goldberg, who is married to
Howard's daughter, Wendy. The gregarious
retired police captain also already knew how to
stage big events. In the past that has almost always
involved giving extravaganzas organized to provide
under privileged local kids with everything from bicycles
to basketballs to help them enjoy happy and healthy
active lives. If
Howard wanted a football-themed celebration of life,
Ira was darn sure going to make it happen
and do it on a scale designed to match the immense
size of Howard's heart and the extraordinary
accomplishments he achieved in a stunningly diverse
career. Howard has been successful as an accountant,
an attorney, a judge, city councilman and mayor, a campaign
strategist, an actor, singer and speaker, a
conference promoter and domain investor and...well, there's
more but you get the idea! (for details see our
2009 Cover
Story profile of Howard).
Above: At
bottom left, Howard's daughter, Wendy Goldberg,
speaks with a guest at the meticulously decorated
clubhouse where the Celebration of Life for
Howard Neu was held Saturday, March 23, 2024
(one day after what would have been an 83rd birthday
for Howard), Below:
Howard's son-in-law, Ira Goldberg, wearing a
Dolphins jersey that Howard gifted him, produced and
hosted the amazing event that drew over 150 people
from all over the U.S. and as far away as Australia.
The mirror behind Ira reflects part of the huge
crowd he welcomed to the celebration honoring
Howard.
Above: The
event looked like a Who's Who (Domain
Industry edition) come to life. Left to right
(including the two familiar faces you see behind the
five people in front) are Eddie Sixto,
Michael Castello (who flew in from California), David
Castello, Domain King Rick Schwartz,
attorney Ari Golberger, legendary domain
investor Michael Berkens and the magnificent Bari
Meyerson. Below:
Eddie with the domain pioneer who came the furthest
to honor his great friend Howard, the pride of
Melbourne, Australia, Michael Gilmour. (Thanks
to Eddie for he photos above and below).
Above
(left to right): Canada's Ilze Kaulins-Plaskacz
with my wife Diana and I. With Ilze, Michael
Castello and Michael Gilmour in the house, we were
almost embarrassed to admit we only had to drive
over from Tampa - but it just goes to show you how
widely loved Howard was and how far any of us would
have been happy to go to honor him and support his
wife Barbara and son Ray (both domain
industry leaders in their own right).
Above: As
I mentioned at the start, host Ira Goldberg's motto
is go big or go home. His attention to detail
included food service built completely around
stadium fare - hot dogs, sandwiches, pizza, pasta
salad and astonishing array of desserts. Below:
While our readers all think of Howard in domain
terms, we made up only about 20% of the crowd. The
other 80% were people who have known Howard far
longer than the 20-25 years the most senior domain
industry people have. Left to right, Ari
Goldberger, Bari Meyerson, Michael Berkens and
Howard's long time T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference
partner (2004-2014), Rick Schwartz, are among
those who've known Howard since the early days of
the show that was the first conference of its kind
in this business. Rick had been with him since he
called on Howard to do some legal work for him in
1999.
Above:
Speaking of Ari, he (at right) and fellow
attorney John Berryhill (left) - along with Howard
Neu - comprised the famous Three Amigos.
They were the first widely-known attorneys to
specialize in domain related cases and their
successes have been instrumental in protecting the
rights of domain industry registrants, investors and
developers from around the world. John and Ari are
still getting it done today and we all benefit from precedent
setting work they have done.
Above
(left to right): .CLUB Founder Colin
Campbell and wife Kim with Barbara Neu
and Diana Jackson. Like the Jacksons and Neus,
the Campbells love dogs (one of Colin's
current enterprises is Paw.com).
Diana, who is an artist, brought Colin and Kim a
color pencil drawing of their fur baby Ginger.
In addition to honoring Howard, the other reason so
many domain people came together was to offer love
and support for Barbara and Ray in this most
difficult time. Below:
Ray (at right) speaking with friends at the
Celebration of Life for for Howard. Barbara and Ray
were primary care givers for Howard during his
battle with pancreatic cancer. It was an incredibly
difficult challenge as the fight neared its end but
they rose to meet it, allowing Howard to pass
peacefully at home.
Above:
Barbara and Ray assembled a mind boggling array of Howard's
memorabilia, including honors and awards he was
given through the course of his multiple careers,
so guests could enjoy seeing them too. Below:
They also took the time to print out our March
1 story about Howard's passing and some
of the highlights of his life to assemble this
poster board for attendees to see.
Above:
After a couple of hours of socializing, Ira opened
the floor for people to personally speak about
Howard with his sister Veda, above, leading
the way. Their father was a renowned cantor and both
Howard and Veda inherited his gift for singing. I
didn't know that about Veda until she sang several
lovely verses in memory of Howard. By the way, the
beautiful wreath at Veda's right was sent by domain
industry pioneer Ammar Kubba, who regrettably
was unable to attend in person.
Above: The
audience listening to Veda and the many uplifting
stores about Howard that followed from speakers
he influenced by the way he lived his life. I spoke
about our relationship and how humble Howard was
about all of his accomplishments. Throughout the 20
years we've been close friends I was continually
astounded to learn new things about him and what he
had done before we met. Below:
Most of us assumed that Rick Schwartz would
have known Howard longer than anyone else in our
business, having met him in 1999. However, it turn
out that Jeff Sass (below), who came into our
business relatively late as the Chief Marketing
Office for .CLUB (a role he now has with the .ART
registry), has known Howard since 1994! Jeff
not only knew Howard, he lived in the same
neighborhood - and not only that - they also
served on the Homeowner's Association Board together
(a job that Jeff would no longer wish on his worst
enemy but one that Howard, who served as President,
adroitly mastered like everything else he
did)!
Above: I
saved the best for last. Ira (#72 in your
program) brought family members together at the
front of the room to publicly thank Barbara
for how she loved and supported Howard throughout
their 35 years or marriage and care for him through
the difficult final days of his life. Below:
When Ira did that, the entire audience rose to
their feet to applaud Barbara.
Below: I
realized the photo above captured only a portion
of the standing ovation, so I switched to a
wide angle lens and, with the crowd stretching from
wall to wall - I still couldn't get them all
in! It was a well deserved honor and appreciation
for a very special woman.
Above: If
there is one thing domain investors are known for
when they get together, it is hanging around
until they are tossed out of the place! Just
before that moment arrived for us, we got a little
more conversation and a couple of more photos in.
Left to right are Rick Waters, Mark
Ghoriafi, David Castello, Ron Jackson and
Michael Castello. Below:
In my favorite photo of the day, Barbara wanted to
get as many of the domain people who were still in
the room together as she could for a "family
portrait" of our crowd - and what a great
memory this will always be.
Left to
right: Seated are Bari Myerson, Michael Berkens,
Rick Schwartz, Diana Jackson and Barbaba Neu.
Standing are Eddie Sixto, Ray Dillman, John
Berryhill, Dr. Chris Hartnett, Ari Goldberger,
Justyna Ghoriafi, Mark Ghoriafi, Ilze
Kaulins-Plaskacz, Michael Mann, Larry Fischer,
Michael Castello, Ron Jackson and Michael
Gilmour. One
last note. Howard Neu is still with us and always
will be. Certainly in memories, but he also had
a positive influence on who we are by
treating us and others in a way that many of us try
to emulate as best we can. As his time on this side
of the veil was closing, Howard handled it with
incredible dignity and grace. I'll thank him for
that too when I see him again on other side!
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