Richard L. Gilbert, 1921-2014

As noted on the front page of The Press this week, Richard L. Gilbert recently passed away.

Mr. Gilbert was a longtime Riverdale resident who once owned a Manhattan-based advertising agency. His captivating account of surviving years in that business was documented in a book published in 2008 that he authored titled, Marching up Madison Avenue.

Mr. Gilbert was also a faithful reader of and contributor to the op-ed pages of this newspaper.

Mr. Gilbert’s submissions often addressed serious domestic and international issues — he was appalled by the Tea Party-led government shutdown last year as well as the failure to close the prison in Guantanamo Bay.

While he displayed an inimitable, good-natured, often self-deprecating and sharp sense of humor while writing about his career, Mr. Gilbert cast a cool, analytical eye on topics he chose address in The Press.

In his memory, we are re-running two of his pieces that exhibit his keen sense of social justice and broad historical perspective.