Frederick Clairmont Moore II, Formerly of Southampton, Dies January 23

Frederick Clairmont Moore II, formerly of Southampton, died on January 23 in Austin, Texas, after a brief illness. He was 65.

He was the ultimate impresario, rejecting the tag of “intellectual,” even while fully embodying it, according to his family. From finance to pop art to new music to the comings-and-goings of New York’s literati, smart set, and café society, he held forth with irreverence, sharp-tongued wit, and a timeless, sophisticated style. He abhorred pretension and was quick to call it out. And his insistence on kindness-above-all won him the admiration and loyalty of doormen, counter attendants, and Central Park passersby. No dog met his gaze without a smile returned, least of all those who made their home in the Moore family’s East 86th Street apartment.

After graduating from Lawrenceville School (he was an inexhaustible Cleve House enthusiast) and Hobart College, where he was editor of The Observer, the College’s satire magazine, he returned to New York, helping to establish the Madison Avenue modernist home design store Sointu. The enterprise won widespread acclaim for its innovative sensibility, including from architecture critic Paul Goldberger.

His boundless interests mirrored his career path, which led to stints on Wall Street, at E.F. Hutton and a boutique private equity firm; in Los Angeles, where he developed screenplays; and then to turns as editor of Hamptons Magazine and Country before becoming a founding editor-in-chief of Madison. The latter was highly regarded for its stylish and cosmopolitan approach to fashion features and celebrity profiles, as well as stories on travel, architecture, art, film, and popular music. Regular contributors included Arthur Elgort, Stephanie Pfriender, and Brigitte Lacombe, and notable covers stories featured Kenneth Branagh, Helena Bonham Carter, Max Roach and Sharon Stone.

After closing Madison, he made a temporary home in Berlin, Germany, before returning to New York, where he became an invaluable and beloved caregiver to his mother. Following her passing, he spent the past four years in Austin, surprising even himself by becoming a Longhorns football fan.

He is survived by his brother, Christopher, of New York and Southampton; two sisters, Anne, of Austin, and Alison (King) Harris, of New York and Bridgehampton; and two nephews, Emerson Moore and Timothy Moore, both of New York. He was predeceased by his mother, Mary Somers Moore; father, Joseph A.C. Moore; and a sister, Mary-Elizabeth (Liz).

A celebration of life will be held at 11 a.m. on February 28 at the Church of St. Thomas More, 65 East 89th Street, New York.