At Geltzer, I worked on Professional Video, Professional Audio, Broadcast and Radio Determination Satellite System accounts. I learned enough about the technical aspects of Sony’s products to write case histories on how cameras, audio equipment and satellite services were utilized in business, institutional and broadcast settings—and published some in national magazines like Southern Boating. I was given the authority to lead meetings with Sony product managers and vice presidents at the company’s Park Ridge, NJ, headquarters.  

One of the best and worst things about working at Geltzer, in fact, was the opportunities and challenges. I remember being asked, early on, to write a public relations proposal for Commodore Computers. I had never written a PR proposal, but Geltzer was not the place to plead ignorance. If you didn’t know how to do something, you were expected to figure it out. So I did.

In this way, I worked my way up quickly, from writer and account executive to senior account executive.  

It turns out, Howard has a Pennsylvania connection. Howard’s mother, Sally, was born and raised in Berwick; Howard grew up in Hazleton and Howard’s uncle owned a car dealership in Mifflinburg. Sally, Howard told me, was a huge fan of Weis Markets, as well as a regular customer.

And, another shared connection: Howard was involved in starting a magazine—Family Health, still surviving as Health.  He left, with help from the publisher, to join his wife Sheila in a public relations venture, Geltzer & Co.

Ultimately, the company was acquired by the ad firm, Publicis.  Howard and Sheila spent several years managing Publicis’ New York PR office before retiring.

Howard did not particularly enjoy retirement, he recently told me. NYU’'s Stern Business School created a Department of Management Communications and invited Howard to join the faculty.  He just completed his eighth year there, and says, “I thoroughly enjoy [teaching] my required course for sophomore undergraduates.” And, I learned, Sheila also embarked on a new career producing theater.

It is somehow fitting that Howard, one of the people who had the most impact on my career, has roots in Pennsylvania. As difficult as it was working for Geltzer & Co., I left there with a critical skill: I could figure out how to do anything and, potentially, I could accomplish whatever I set my mind to.

Armed with that insight, I had the gumption to start Susquehanna Life magazine. Thank-you, Howard, and Sheila, for giving a young writer a chance—and an opportunity.

Sincerely,

Erica L. Shames,
Founder & Publisher  

Articles from our Fall 2018 Issue:

 

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Mission Statement: Founded in 1993, Susquehanna Life magazine is the original lifestyle publication for Central PA, highlighting the region’s most captivating stories and undiscovered gems in a national-caliber publication. And the Susquehanna Life brand is an effective, cost-efficient multi-media platform on which businesses and organizations like yours, that produce a high-quality product or service, can partner with a brand with these same principles and attributes to meet and exceed sales goals.