Joseph H. Mintzer, 93
Joseph Howard Mintzer, a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, died in his sleep on July 22 at the home of his companion, Lucy Silver, in Niantic, Conn. Mr. Mintzer, a resident of East Hampton and Boca Raton, Fla., was 93 years old.
Born in Brooklyn on Dec. 22, 1922, to Hyman Albert Mintzer and the former Rebecca Fox, he graduated from Erasmus Hall High School and went on to Brooklyn College, where he earned a degree in political science. He later attended Indiana University and became fluent in French, which stood him in good stead during World War II, when he served in intelligence with the Army’s 70th Infantry Division in France and Germany. During the Korean War, he was a psychological warfare officer. He earned two Bronze Stars for his service.
Mr. Mintzer began his business career as a copy boy for The New York Times, leaving to become a newsroom editor at The Times’s radio station, WQXR. He later worked as a copywriter at Grey Advertising before helping to establish the ad agency Daniel & Charles, and eventually started several agencies of his own.
He began visiting East Hampton as a young adult, while living in Scarsdale, N.Y., and started spending more time here about 30 years ago. He became a contributor to the East End’s literary community, writing for Dan’s Papers and publishing short stories in The Star. He helped to inspire the 2002 book “Hamptons Bohemia,” an illustrated history of the artists and writers of the East End, and was a co-founder and associate publisher of Hampton Shorts, a not-for-profit literary journal that provided scholarships for young writers.
During the Vietnam War, Mr. Mintzer was a founding member of the Scarsdale Appeal for Peace. A former president of the Scarsdale Democratic Club, he twice represented Westchester County on the New York State Democratic Committee.
He was a member of Mensa as well, and an inventor who held several patents. He was a director of the New York City Police Foundation and the Y.M.-Y.W.H.A. of Westchester (now called the J.C.C. of Mid-Westchester). He was a former president of the County Tennis Club of Westchester.
More recently, Mr. Mintzer was the chairman of the Off Broadway Quaigh Theater, and even took to the stage himself, acting in “Bury the Dead” and “12 Angry Jurors” at Guild Hall. He led a Socrates Cafe group in East Hampton and participated in the group’s meetings in Boca Raton as well. At the time of his death, he had been working on a screenplay based on the lives of Sinclair Lewis and Dorothy Thompson.
Mr. Mintzer was married for 55 years to Serena Maria Maltese, who died in 2008. In addition to his companion, Ms. Silver, who also lives in Boca Raton, he is survived by a daughter, Leslie Mintzer of New York City, a son, Laurence Mintzer of Scarsdale, and three grandchildren.
A graveside service was held last Thursday at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in East Hampton.