John Eastman, a prominent entertainment lawyer whose clients included the musicians Paul McCartney and Billy Joel, the Abstract Expressionist painter Willem de Kooning, and the playwright Tennessee Williams, died at his Lily Pond Lane, East Hampton Village, residence on Aug. 10. Mr. Eastman, who had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two months earlier, was 83.
With his father, Lee Eastman, Mr. Eastman was a partner in the Eastman & Eastman law firm, which represented Mr. McCartney during his lawsuit to legally dissolve the Beatles and during his long post-Beatles career. Mr. McCartney, who owns a house in Amagansett, married Mr. Eastman's sister, Linda Eastman, in 1969, and remained close to his brother-in-law until Mr. Eastman's death.
"John was a great man," Mr. McCartney wrote on social media sites on Aug. 11. "One of the nicest and smartest people I have had the good luck to have known in my life. Not only did he help me massively in my business dealings as my lawyer but as a friend he was hard to beat. His sense of humour always shone through in everything he did and his devotion to his family was supreme."
"It was all about family," Mr. Eastman's son, also named Lee Eastman, said this week. "My grandfather was down the street; Paul and Linda would come every summer. It was a very, very close family that revolved around the ocean at Georgica Beach." Mr. Eastman "was a big, prominent figure," his son said, "but he was very much just a family guy who wanted to be with his 11 grandchildren and my mom."
"He was one of most well-read people you will ever meet, and very right thinking," the younger Mr. Eastman said. "He demanded the best of people, but you would never meet a less pretentious or arrogant person. Smart and well read, he treated everyone equally. An incredible husband, father, and friend to many."
"John Eastman was a dear friend and a great attorney whose representation guided me through difficult legal and financial circumstances," Mr. Joel, a longtime resident of Sag Harbor, said in a statement provided to The Star. "He was fierce when it came to protecting artists' rights and I credit him with whatever longevity I have achieved in my career. I was proud to be one of his companions, as well as one of his clients. I will miss his company, his unique knowledge, his valuable insight, and his irreplaceable humor."
John Lindner Eastman was born on July 10, 1939, in Manhattan to Lee Vail Eastman and the former Louise Lindner. He grew up in Scarsdale, N.Y., and graduated from Scarsdale High School. He earned a bachelor's degree from Stanford University in California in 1961 before going on to earn a Bachelor of Laws degree from New York University Law School in 1964.
On Sept. 7 of that year, he and Josephine Merrill were married. Mrs. Eastman survives. "Theirs remained a beautiful, love-story marriage from 1964 until he died, almost 58 years," their son said. "He'd always refer to Mom as his north star, which I thought was beautiful."
Mr. Eastman joined his father as a partner in Eastman & Eastman in 1965. The elder Mr. Eastman died in 1991.
John Eastman first came to East Hampton in the late 1950s when he got a job as a sailing instructor, his son said. Lee Eastman came to East Hampton in 1961, buying a house on Lily Pond Lane. John and Josephine Eastman rented in Sagaponack and Wainscott before buying a house of their own on Lily Pond Lane in 1973, which was previously home to the Anita Zahn Summer School of the Arts, where young Jacqueline and Caroline Lee Bouvier studied dance.
Mr. Eastman was a member of the Maidstone Club and the Georgica Association. He was a trustee of the Willem de Kooning Foundation and a patron of Amber Waves Farm, the Springs Food Pantry, and the Arts Center at Duck Creek. "He was an avid tennis player, and he loved sailing on Georgica Pond," his son said.
The family "spent every weekend, summer, and free moment here," the younger Mr. Eastman, who became his father's law partner in 1997, said of East Hampton. "We worked very closely together for many years." Mr. McCartney "is out here because of my dad," he said. "He and Linda used to stay here with their kids in our house. It was like a free-for-all, '70s style, everyone running around."
The Eastmans also lived on East End Avenue in Manhattan, where Mr. Eastman served on the American Museum of Natural History's board of trustees. "He was a longtime trustee at Smith College" in Northampton, Mass., his son said. "He cared a lot about education, women's education."
As Mr. Eastman's focus shifted to philanthropic work, "he spent more and more time here," his son said. "Like many, when Covid hit, my parents stayed here, and happily." In recent years, Mr. Eastman was often at Georgica Beach, where he would walk Lucky, the family's Tibetan terrier. "He would go every day, rain or shine," his son said, meeting with "a beautiful group of people who became great 'dog friends.' "
"My lasting image is him on a beat-up Raleigh, pedaling down barefoot and jumping in the ocean."
"There is so much more that can be said of his incredible qualities," Mr. McCartney wrote, "but words can hardly describe his passion for life and our affection for this amazing man. He will be sorely missed but always held dear in the hearts of those of us who knew and loved him."
Mr. Eastman was buried in Poppy's Field, a meadow in Peru, Vt. In addition to his wife and son, he is survived by a daughter, Louise Eastman of Brooklyn and North Haven, and another son, Jay Eastman of Manhattan and North Haven. Eleven grandchildren also survive. They are Nancy, Hugh, Otto, Merrill, Jack, Oliver, and Otis Eastman, all of Manhattan, Heidi Loening of New Orleans, Lola Loening of Brooklyn, Graciela Watrous of Brooklyn, and Julian Watrous of Manhattan. Two sisters, Laura Malcolm of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., and Louise Weed of Cambridge, Mass., also survive. Mrs. McCartney died in 1998.
Mr. Eastman's family has suggested that an act of kindness for "the many wonderful community organizations in East Hampton" be performed in his memory.
