Edward Klagsbrun ’56

Ed died Feb. 9, 2022, in Chappaqua, N.Y. He was 86.

After graduating from Princeton magna cum laude, Ed served as a lieutenant in the Navy, earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1961, and became an associate at Hays Sklar & Herzberg. He later joined the predecessor of Deutsch Klagsbrun & Blasband, where he was a partner for 33 years, after which he joined the firm of McLaughlin & Stern. 

Ed retired after a 50-year career in intellectual property, literary, and general practice, mostly counseling publishers (including on several occasions Princeton University Press) and authors (one a Nobel Prize winner whose breakout novel Ed said was “the highlight of Carlos Baker’s English Lit course”). He was a member of the advisory board of the Copyright Committee of the Information Industry Association and was a consultant to the Ford Foundation as well as counsel to other nonprofit organizations. Ed was active in community service, serving as town library trustee and president and as trustee of the Whispering Bells Foundation. 

Ed loved the outdoors and spent many hours on projects on his land and pond in Hawley, Mass., and in Chappaqua. He was a robust and skilled cross-country skier and a talented painter. Ed had a vast library and read every day until he died, never losing interest in the world and the arts. He had a keen sense of humor and the gift of expression. Ed’s greatest personal qualities were modesty, integrity, loyalty, and fairness. Until the end of his life, friends, family, and colleagues sought him for wise and practical advice.

Ed is survived by his wife, Joan Saslow; children Adam and Katherine; and brothers Herbert and Ronald.