Ira Briskman Of Quogue And West Palm Beach Dies April 7

Ira Briskman of Quogue and West Palm Beach, Florida, died on Tuesday, April 7, after a lengthy battle against a number of health challenges unrelated to the coronavirus. The husband of Graham Russell, he was 79.

Born in Toledo, Ohio, on October 11, 1940, he was a graduate of Mumford High School in 1958; a camper and counselor at Camp Scatico in Elizaville, NY; and a member of Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity at the University of Michigan.

Mr. Briskman had a long career in the circulation and distribution business in New York City with Time Warner, Playboy, and Rolling Stone magazine. Upon moving to Florida in 1982, he worked for and ultimately retired from the Rubin Periodical Group, a wholesale newspaper and periodical distribution company.

An avid lover of University of Michigan football and Duke basketball, he was a longtime resident of Palm Beach and West Palm Beach, Florida, but friends said that it was in his marriage to Graham and in his adopted village of Quogue that he found his true home.

“If limited to one modifier, I can only describe him as one of the sweetest people I have ever encountered,” Andrew Botsford wrote in his AtQuaquanantuck.com blog last week.

Mr. Botsford, who first met Mr. Briskman when Ms. Russell introduced him to Quogue in 1995, noted that, “Although bright and quick, he happily bypassed wit and judgment, preferring instead to positively exude love, compassion and good humor; to spend time in his company was, unfailingly, to experience real warmth and a sincere interest in one’s well-being. A welcome and very appreciative guest at any gathering, he was perhaps happiest when he could welcome others into the joyful world he shared with Graham and their family.”

“Over the last few years, Ira battled, with typical good grace, a number of serious health challenges,” Mr. Botsford wrote. “Buoyed by his deep love for Graham and his family, and thanks to the tireless, tender care and love provided by Graham, he miraculously bounced back from them all, right up to the end.

“Perhaps it was his karma or maybe it was a gift from the universe, returning some of the love he gave throughout his life; whatever forces were at work in the timing, Ira was able to join Graham at her computer on Saturday, April 4, for a Zoom ‘cocktail’ gathering of Quogue friends and members of his family. A blessing for Ira and for friends and loved ones who were able to connect with him one last time, even if only virtually.”

“So great was his love for his spiritual home in Quogue that he long ago requested that he be buried in the Quogue Cemetery,” the blog continued. “As Graham noted this week, Ira ‘loved long, hazy, simple summer days in his beloved Quogue and the crisp, beautiful fall weather sitting on the deck watching the waves at the Quogue Beach Club.’ It is certain that his friends and family will feel his presence there still.”

In addition to his wife Graham, he is survived by two daughters, Anna Rakowsky and her husband Darin, and Emily Briskman; two sons, Alexander Russell and his wife Lea, and Hamish Russell and his wife Jill; and three granddaughters, Elizabeth, Harper and Georgia Russell. A memorial gathering in Quogue will be held at a later date.