Celebrating a Life Well Lived

Eulogy by Peter Shapiro (click here for video)

People often ask how a lawyer like Dad produced three sons who were entrepreneurs in nontraditional fields.  But Dad was an entrepreneur – in law, co-founding a new firm, Schulte Roth & Zabel, and later expanding it to London; in the financial world, helping to build a new investment firm, Park Vale Capital; and in philanthropy, merging UJA and Federation and founding the JCRC.  He took risks to achieve something and to do good.
 
Dad was also a silent partner, consigliere, and wing man to us in everything we’ve done.

He supported all of our dreams and when we shared our wildest ideas, not only would he say “Go for it,” he would do whatever he could to help us make those dreams come true.  Until literally the last week of his life, he was working with each of us on complex business matters and negotiations.

More than just in-house counsel to Shapiro Brothers Inc., Dad was an un-credited collaborator with us in everything we did.  He made a movie with U2, opened music venues around the world, and reunited the Grateful Dead.  He brought Curious George and Digital 3D to Movie and TV screens.  He wrote books about international competition and the Internet, and advised GE and other industrial giants on becoming sustainable innovators.  All of this makes him the coolest tax lawyer there ever was.

His involvement naturally led the three of us to collaborate among ourselves as well, which is a great gift he gave us.  Throughout our lives, we will continue to ask ourselves: What would Dad do?  But… because he was our role model and wingman throughout our entire lives, we’ll know what his answer would be.

Now Dad has passed the torch to us and we will do our best to live up to his example at work, in the community, with friends, and the way he treated everyone he encountered, and most importantly with his commitment to family.

Dad was proud of us and we are even prouder to be his sons.