Richard Shack

It is with a great deal of sadness that I learned through a friend of the death of Richard Shack. It is with stunned fingers that I type that, while glazed eyes look off into the distance. Richard and Ruth Shack have been some of the most generous, gracious, intelligent, and committed people I know, have known since I moved to Miami in 1978.

I met Richard during my tenure at the Museum of Contemporary Art, but I also visited them in their beautiful and very comfortable home. Richard gave me his insight into the art he liked and didn’t like. As personal as that was, it also said a lot about his care and compassion for others because he had a gentle, yet very convincing way about him that I always appreciated.

Miami, and south Florida, will not be the same without him. I will miss his smiling face and the rich sound of his voice greeting me. Thank you for being a friend, Mr. Richard Shack.

A long-time lover of art, Shack owned a world-class collection. Many of the pieces were donated to museums, still he died surrounded by the works he loved.

BY ELINOR J. BRECHER

[T]here was plenty of art surrounding Shack when he died at home on Monday. His wife of 58 years, a former Miami-Dade Commissioner and longtime community activist, said her husband suffered heart problems and succumbed to a massive stroke, his second in recent years.

Born Richard A. Shack on May 15, 1926 in Brooklyn to Eastern European immigrants, the retired entertainment agent was 85.

Read more here: Via: Miami Herald
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/17/v-fullstory/2753533/richard-shack-art-collector-dies.html#storylink=cpy