1936-
Advertising Executive

Iconoclast.

Brooklyn Brash.

On His Own.

Background.

He grew up in the most improbable environment for an ad person: Brooklyn, in an Italian immigrant family, speaking little English until he entered grammar school. He went no further educationally, aside from a few night advertising courses at Brooklyn College. Instead, he spent seven years at odd jobs, while nurturing the dream of becoming an advertising copywriter. He submitted sample ads to an agency, which hired him in 1961, and he began climbing the ladder, moving from one agency to another and gathering acclaim in the industry for the wildly unconventional talent he displayed. He also fought constantly with his superiors, among whom one stated, "His whole life-style is to be a provocateur." This was an understatement, as Delia Femina showed in an aggressive speech in 1966, which his superiors publicly disavowed in The New York...