Chris Spagnuolo’s EdgeHopper

Larry Deckinger

In everyone’s life, there are those rare people you come into contact with that truly change your life. There are a precious few such people in my life, but probably none more important than Dr. E.L. Deckinger…or as most of us have come to know him, Larry. I met Larry back in 1986 when I was studying marketing and advertising at St. John’s University in New York. He was my professor in my first advertising class. When I walked into the class for the first time, I saw Dr. Deckinger’s crazy, wild hair and his big glasses and wondered what I had gotten myself into. Before long, I realized that what I had gotten myself into was the opportunity to work with a marketing and advertising genius on a daily basis. Dr. Deckinger distilled his 40+ years of marketing knowledge into some very basic principles: (1) be different….always be different (2) be remarkable…always be remarkable and (3) make people happy…ALWAYS! At the time, I didn’t realize it, but these were not just the keys to success in the advertising and marketing world, they were the keys to a successful and happy life.

I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to take several more classes with Dr. Deckinger over the next few years. I worked very closely with him and other advertising students to bring St. John’s students to the National Student Advertising Competition held in New York City in 1988. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Dr. Deckinger never allowed our team to be ordinary. He never allowed us to approach this as just a contest. To us and to him, this was a real-world test about who was truly remarkable.

After I finished school at St. John’s, Larry was instrumental in helping me land a job at Grey Advertising, one of the top ad agencies in the world. Larry would visit with me at Grey and we’d talk shop over hot dog lunches on park benches in Manhattan. As my career progressed, I moved around to other agencies like Backer Spielvogel Bates and Saatchi & Saatchi. Every time I got to a new agency and talked about my past experiences, Larry’s name would always come up. It seemed like everyone knew Larry. No matter how much time had passed, Larry always kept in touch and visited with me when he was in the city. We always talked marketing and advertising; it was our passion. But we talked a lot about life too. Larry always told me that life was a long road with many turns and twists. He said you never really knew where the road was heading but that you should enjoy the ride, especially the bumpy parts. He was ever so right.

Over the years, I left advertising as a full-time job and pursued other careers, ultimately ending up in the software development field. Larry and I kept in touch by mail and eventually, we really only connected once or twice a year. It was late last week that I decided to get in touch with Larry to ask a few questions. But I couldn’t seem to find him. I knew Larry was getting on in years (he turned 90 in April of ’07) and started to think the worst. When I did some Google searches, much to my dismay, I found the New York Times obituary for Larry. I sat at my laptop for a long time and just stared into space. One of the people who shaped my life the most, a true mentor, a good friend, was gone. My memories flashed back 20 years to my days at St. John’s and the lessons I had learned from Larry. All of our great park bench conversations came rushing back. Then I turned back to the obituary and didn’t think that the simple words printed there came close to describing the amazing person that I knew. Although Larry is gone, I know that a part of him lives on in myself and countless other students that he taught not just marketing lessons to, but life lessons as well. Larry cared about every one of his students. Truly cared in a way that a father cares for his children. We weren’t just a part of his job; we were a part of his life and he a part of ours. Larry, I’ll miss you more than you’ll ever know and I’m ever so sorry I never got to say goodbye.

If you want to know more about Larry and the great things he accomplished in his life, check out this article on the St. John’s Alumni page.  It’s much better than reading a simple obituary.