Arthur L. Iger, executive with passion for jazz, dies

Arthur L. Iger, a retired advertising and publishing executive and teacher with a passion for jazz and family, died of a heart attack Sunday at Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson at age 84.

He and his wife, Mimi, 83, lived for the past four years in Port Jefferson Station, where he had been working on a follow-up to his book, "Music of the Golden Age, 1900-1950 and Beyond: A Guide to Popular Composers and Lyricists," published in 1998.

"He was a very special man, filled with curiosity and passion, and above all, he was a lover of his family," said his son Robert A. Iger, who is president and chief executive of The Walt Disney Co.

He described his father as having both an "extraordinary interest in current events" and a gregarious nature: "He liked a good song, a good joke and a good drink."

For years, Iger recalled, his father attended the weekly, and later monthly, sessions of "Jazz at Noon," a gathering of musicians who met at restaurants in New York City.

"He knew everybody in the room; he'd go and have a good lunch and listen to a couple hours of great jazz," Iger said. "That was him at his best."

Arthur Lawrence Iger was born in Brooklyn on April 13, 1926. He married in 1947 after serving in the Navy during World War II. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, he played jazz trumpet professionally in the 1940s.

In the 1960s, he served as president of the school board in Oceanside where he and his wife raised Robert, 59, of Los Angeles, and Carolyn, 56, of Port Jefferson.

Before moving to Port Jefferson Station, the couple had lived for 25 years in Long Beach where Iger was active in Long Beach Reach, a social services and substance abuse treatment program.

He worked for Cunningham and Walsh, an advertising agency, and at Macmillan Publishing and Greenvale Marketing Corp. before becoming adjunct professor of marketing and advertising at the New York Institute of Technology.

But it was music that captivated Iger, said Carolyn, who owns Grapes, a Port Jefferson gift store.

"Music was always on, and he talked about it to the end, always," she said.

Besides his wife and two children, Iger is survived by nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

The family will receive guests Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a service at 11:30 a.m. at the Belle Terre Community Center, 55 Cliff Rd., Belle Terre. Donations may be made to the Southern Poverty Law Center and Long Beach Reach.