[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 85 (Thursday, May 22, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1025]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               HONORING THE MEMORY OF BARRY H. GOTTEHRER

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 21, 2008

  Mr. BONNER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of a 
great leader, a great man, and a truly great American, Barry H. 
Gottehrer.
  A Bronx native, Barry graduated from the Horace Mann School, Brown 
University, and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
  A well-known journalist, Barry worked as an author, sportswriter, and 
editor at various magazines, including Newsweek. In the mid-1960s, 
noted reporter Dick Schaap recruited Barry to lead a team of reporters 
at the New York Herald-Tribune in an examination of the rising crime 
and racial tensions that were plaguing New York City. The award-winning 
series, ``City in Crisis,'' was credited with helping to elect John V. 
Lindsay mayor of New York in 1965.
  Barry went on to join the Lindsay administration as a mayoral 
assistant, and he soon organized the Urban Action Task Forces, 
described in his New York Times obituary as ``neighborhood-based groups 
created to anticipate local grievances and to quell unrest.''
  In a memoir, ``The Mayor's Man,'' Barry described himself as ``a 
white in a world of black and brown, a moderate in a world of 
revolutionaries, trying to bring change where change seemed needed 
most, trying to buy time until the change would come.''
  While serving in Mayor Lindsay's office, Barry created the precursor 
of the office to promote television and film production in New York. He 
also instituted a summer jobs program for young people.
  Following his tenure in the administration, Barry joined Madison 
Square Garden as a senior executive before joining MassMutual, where he 
served as senior vice president of government relations for many years. 
In 1996, Barry left MassMutual to work as an independent Washington-
based consultant.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in remembering a 
dedicated public servant, community leader, a friend to many, as well 
as a wonderful husband and father. Barry Gottehrer will be dearly 
missed by his family--his wife, Patricia Anne Gottehrer; his children, 
Kevin Gottehrer, Andrea Kling and Gregg Salem; and his two 
grandchildren--as well as the many countless friends he leaves behind. 
Our thoughts and prayers are with them all during this difficult time.

                          ____________________