obituaries
PR Man Larry
Rubin Dies at 81
JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
L eslie Cohen, the daughter of
public relations legend Larry
Rubin, used to make a joke
about her father.

Rubin had three children, his daugh-
ter would say, and the first one was the
Spectrum, the Philadelphia arena where
the PR man promoted games, concerts
and circuses in the 1970s and ’80s.

The venue became his second home
and first obsession, according to
Cohen. The arena and job brought
together all of Rubin’s interests and
Rubin promoted Philadelphia 76ers
and Flyers games; concerts by Bruce
Springsteen and the J. Geils Band
among many others; and Ringling
Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circuses.

But those were only the regularly
scheduled programs.

The PR man is perhaps best remem-
bered for his most elaborate and wacky
displays. Rubin used to tell his protégé
Ike Richman to, “Put something where
it doesn’t belong. It’s as simple as that.”
According to Richman, Rubin had
“the world’s smallest man,” Michu,
float into Philly among the tall ships;
he brought a chimpanzee to a day care
Larry Rubin
Courtesy of
the Rubin family
qualities: music, sports and the exotic
spectacle, as well as his writing abil-
ity, his creativity and his flair for the
spotlight. The Spectrum opened in 1967 and
took a backseat to the bigger CoreStates
Center, now the Wells Fargo Center, in
1996 when the latter opened. But during
the former arena’s heyday, the promoter
was the man responsible for making it a
cultural attraction for Philadelphia-area
residents and families.

Rubin died on April 28 at his
Wynnewood home. He was 81.

“He was the cool dad. That’s what
I told him all along,” Cohen said.

“Everybody knew what he did and
wanted to be there.”
26 MAY 12, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
center to promote the circus; he walked
show dogs down Jewelers’ Row, also to
promote the circus; he got two differ-
ent Philadelphia mayors, W. Wilson
Goode (1984-1992) and Ed Rendell
(1992-2000), to participate in stunts
with the Harlem Globetrotters.

“I often find myself asking, ‘What would
Larry do?’” said Richman, who now has
his own PR firm called Ike Richman
Communications. “And I will continue to
be inspired by his imaginative approaches,
creativity and sense of humor.”
Rubin was born in 1941 to musician/
artist parents Jules and Freda Rubin,
according to Flora Rubin, his wife of 56
years. He did not grow up with televi-
sion. Instead, he came of age listening