It is with great sadness that we must announce the passing of Jeffrey Alan Greenberg, longtime ACE Board member, ACE attorney, and cherished friend.  Jeff was a part of ACE for 25 years, and leaves behind a great hole in the fabric of our organization, and is a deep personal loss for us all.  President Anna Lomax Wood shared her memories of Jeff.

Jeff was in his thirties when we met at the archive in 1996, soon after Alan succumbed to  a brain hemorrhage.  Jeff  was an entertainment lawyer at Beldock, Levine, and Hoffman, which represented many wonderful musicians. Myron Beldock specialized in civil rights, and was responsible for overturning the convictions of the Central Park Five, a group of black teenagers framed for the gang-rape of a jogger in CP many years ago. Eliot Levine led the entertainment arm and had represented Alan for many years, doubtless at vastly reduced fees. They had been negotiating an agreement with Rounder Records to publish a hundred CDs of Alan's recordings, going back and forth over the course of seven years. Alan was as always reluctant to sign, Eliot was of a choleric temperament, and one day during a screaming argument, he walked out, but Jeff, the junior in the negotiations, stayed behind, and succeeded in bringing the Rounder agreement to a successful conclusion.  When I came into the picture, he proposed an arrangement which made it possible for us to work together all these years.  

Jeff  had great charm and good looks. He was not a litigator or a courtroom lawyer,  rather  a superb negotiator whose forte was making win-win deals between parties. He was a gentle, compassionate man, who adored his family, loved to read and explore new ideas.  Over the past several years he had been taking courses in philosophy, which he greatly enjoyed. Jeff loved good food and good wine.  One of the last times I saw him in person was at Claudette's in the Village, one of his new favorite restaurants specializing in Moroccan and Provençal cuisine.  There was a terrible storm that night, and for hours the rain came down in sheets.  There were no taxis or public transportation from my office, so I walked most of the way, arriving an hour and a half late.  Jeff was waiting at the bar.  We sat and talked for three hours, and then I walked him to his front door.

To say that he will be missed by me and all of us who have known and worked with him, is to say too little.  Words don't cover it.