Longtime sports publicist Joe Goldstein has died after a career in which he promoted everything from the New York City Marathon to harness racing to Evel Knievel's jump of Snake River Canyon. He was 81
.
Goldstein died of a stroke Friday in Boca Raton, Fla. His death was confirmed Saturday by the public relations firm he ran for 40 years.
Goldstein was born in Conway, S.C. He moved to New York in 1940. Since 1969, he ran his own public relations firm and maintained residences in New York and in Boca Raton.
He was a prominent figure on the New York sports scene and a throwback to another era. Among his clients were ESPN, the Millrose Games and New York Stock Exchange. He is a member of the Harness Racing Hall of Fame and New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.
Goldstein was married for 44 years to the late Helene Goldstein, who died in 1999. He is survived by three sons, Robert, Adam and Jared; and two sisters, Pearl Rosenberg and Shirley Webber.
A funeral will be held in New York on Wednesday. A memorial service is planned.
(With files from The Associated Press and USTA)