Precision Springs

I don't think I ever read an obituary where the subject did as many things as Arthur L. Carter. I'm not sure why "polymath" didn't work it's way into the obituary, but maybe that noun is not appropriate for someone who starts as many businesses as Mr. Carter.

Living till 93 and apparently still possessing all your marbles, does give you lots of time to keep going with your ideas, and Mr. Carter's ideas were varied.

Mr. Carter started out like all of us: he was born. And what better place to be born than Manhattan, with deep Jewish parental roots. The New York Times obit writer, Sam Roberts, will always tell us of Jewish immigrant roots if they're there. In Mr. Carter' case, the roots were from Hungary.

After high school, Mr. Carter briefly attended Julliard and studied with Rudolf Serkin, with the goal of becoming a concert pianist.

Perhaps it was the rather low pay of concert pianists, but Mr. Carter joined the Coast Guard and served two years commanding a patrol boat in New York harbor.

Trying to become a concert pianist gave way on his discharge from the Coast Guard to joining his next-door Woodmere, Long Island neighbor, Sanford I. Weil at Lehman Brothers. (Yes, that Sanford Weil, Sandy.) From there, he started his first business with Mr. Weil and Mr. Berlind in a struggling, but ultimately hugely successful banking and brokerage firm.

Cashing out of that firm is when all the fun really begins. The New York Times obituary headline tells us Mr. Carter was "the Founder of a Cheeky Newspaper."

That "cheeky Newspaper" was The Observer, printed on a salmon-hued paper that gave it a very distinctive look.  But before that, Mr. Carter's media obsession had him starting The Litchfield County Times, a weekly newspaper covering northwest Connecticut where he owned a 1,400-acre dairy farm. (The number of cows is not disclosed.)

Mr. Carter than acquired a majority stake in The Nation in 1985, a magazine that he hoped would advance his liberal leanings. Mr. Carter lost significant money with The Nation and sold it in 1995 to its editor Victor Navasky.

Concurrently with producing The Nation, Mr. Carter founded The New York Observer, an upscale Manhattan Weekly newspaper that Mr. Carter delighted in using to skewer his friends and foes alike.

In 2016 with models of his sculptures

In his 60s, Mr. Carter used his childhood interest in geometry and sketching to create sculptures using bronze, stainless steel and copper, putting the welding skills he learned in the Coast Guard to work. Pieces were exhibited in various spots in Manhattan.

Mr. Roberts tells us in the obit, "through his private-equity holding company, Utilities & Industries Corporation, Mr. Carter had stakes in scores of companies involved in printing, shipping, water utilities, shopping centers, real estate, banking, meat packing, music publishing and precision springs." (If there was an appearance on Shark Tank, it goes unmentioned.)

The obit had me at precision springs. Anyone who did all that and had a hand in producing precision springs, deserves the send off Mr. Roberts gave them. Not many people did as many things as Mr. Carter.

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