Remembering
Jerry Corwin
Jerome Corwin
March 12, 1913 - April 3, 2015
Jerry Corwin at 101 years old...
I was fortunate to spend the last two years with my dad, who had the energy to ride to Tiverton, Westport, or Bristol for local seafood,
or to one of our favorite ethnic restaurants in town nearly every day until he turned 102.
Lunch in Westport, MA at 101...
On the putting green at Ledgemont at 101...
"Still got it", over 40 years after a 165 yd. hole in one!
Ledgemont was founded by Jerry's father, along with the Jewish owner and other department heads at the Outlet Co.
Department Stores, who were not welcome at the established RI country clubs, so Jerry started playing at Ledgemont
in 1926 at age 13 when his mother's sewing club gave Jerry a set of golf clubs for his Bar Mitzvah!
Still shooting his 35mm digital Nikon at 101 at Bayside in Westport...
Long before photographing greeting cards and music at Newport, Jerry first studied photography in the 1930's with
Conrad Cramer and Nicholas Haas in Woodstock, NY, had a photography studio in downtown Providence, where he was
among the last to drive his car away before the hurricane of '38, and was an official photographer of the state of Rhode Island.
Breakfast at home at 102, the Friday before he passed, still starting every morning with his muffin and coffee and reading the Providence Journal and New York Times...
One of his most popular photos, translated for many countries, of two women on the Seine...
Serving from 1947 to 1985 as Executive Vice President, Creative Director, and International Sales Manager for
Paramount Greeting Cards, Jerry revolutionized the industry with the use of photographs on Greeting Cards,
then sold the designs to other greeting card companies in 58 countries.
Jerry has been an artist and photographer for most of his 102 years. He studied photography in the 1930's with Conrad Cramer
and Nicholas Haas in Woodstock, NY, studied painting at the Provincetown School of Art with John Fraser, studied at the
Master's Institute of the Roerrich Musum in New York City in 1930/31, was a 1934 graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, and
continued winning awards including the Gorham Prize at the Providence Art Club, 1st prize at the Providence Water Color Society, the
Mary Costindas Prize at the DeCordova Museum, and the 2000 Boca Museum Prize at the Boca Museum Artist's Guild.
Gorham Prize, Providence Art Club, 1952...
The same neighborhood, three decades later...
Honorable Mention, Providence Art Club
Florida portraits...
Third Prize, Boca Museum Artist's Guild, 2000
1st Place, Rhode Island Watercolor Society, 1993
Jerry began his career in the 1930's designing book jackets in New York for Random House, Simon and Schuster, and Dial Press...
As a photographer, he was innovative with his use of "photograms" and other experimental techniques...
Jerry was the first on the East coast to shoot "candid" photos of debutantes and brides with a "miniature" camera, his
"refugee" Leica IIIG. He was an official photographer of Rhode Island before becoming Artist/Photographer for Lanpher
and Schonfarber and VP, Creative for Bo Bernstein Advertising.
While serving in the Signal Corps as Cpl. T4 / Acting Sergeant, at Pinewoods Studios near London during WWII, as Film Editor of
"The True Glory", the official Academy Award winning documentary of WWII, working with Garson Kanin, Peter Ustnoff, and Larry Olivier,
Jerry sent V-Mails home to family and friends. These delightful V-mails are now part of the Corwin Collection of the Library of Congress...
More V-Mails
The Making of the True Glory
Jerry’s Army career started with Basic Training at Seagirt, when the leader of his unit, Ferdie Wachtenheimer, an old friend from Providence, suggested that Jerry take over his role as a teacher of basic training, as he was moving on. Ferdie became better known after his name change to Fred Friendly for his work with Edward R. Murrow, as played by George Clooney in the movie “Good Night and Good Luck".
With a Ford convertible, a pack of Camels, and newfound privileges as a unit leader to travel off base at night, Jerry was joined in his after hour exploits by an older gentleman who also had privileges, as a WWWI soldier who had re-enrolled with hopes of finding his way to the East. Word had spread that this new bunkmate, Sam Hammett, was in fact the Dasheill Hammett who had written the "Thin Man” series and the newly popular 1941 hit film "The Maltese Falcon” with Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade.
A friend from New York "claimed” to know Lillian Hellman, a “friend” of Hammett’s, so when Jerry inquired, Dasheill said “of course”, and so the boys met Lillian for drinks at a bar in New Jersey.
After entering the Signal Corps at Fort Monmouth, then training at Astoria and realizing that photographers were at the front of the front lines, Jerry managed to apprentice with Hollywood film editor Dick Farrell (Highway Patrol, Perry Mason), brother of film star Glenda Farrell, one of Warner Bros most prolific stars, from the early talkies to her Emmy for Ben Casey. The best of Hollywood had been gathered to document the European invasion in an Anglo-American Frank Capra unit led by Garson Kanin and Sir Carol Reed. Working at Pinewood Studios near London with the likes of Peter Ustanoff and Larry Olivier, Jerry was tasked with editing the captured Nazi film. The original avante garde score by Marc Blitztein was replaced by the British "pomp and ceremony" of William Allwyn.
When the film was completed, Kanin told Jerry “while you folks have been out drinking at night, I’ve been writing this play", and he handed Jerry a leather bound copy of “Born Yesterday” to deliver to his wife, Ruth Gordon, back in the States, and suggested that Jerry read it on the trip home. With the ruse that Jerry was urgently needed for work Stateside, Gar secured a flight home rather than the routine slow boat home.
As a boss tasked with censoring the V-mails Jerry sent home, Kanin knew Jerry's illustrations well, so after the war, "Gar" sent Jerry a letter saying “how come you never come visit me in New York?", included a copy of the text of “Born Yesterday”, and suggested that Jerry create a cartoon based on the characters.
In the 1930's, Jerry shared sailing in the summers and cross country skiing at San Sauver in the Canadian Laurentians in
the winter with his buddies Milt Ernstoff and Miles Sydney. Miles lived into his 90's to remain a lifelong best friend.
This is Jerry with Miles...
In recent years, Jerry's photographs of the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals of the 1960's have been widely published and
become a fixture at the festival, displayed backstage every year for performers and VIP's...
Dizzy Gilllespie
Duke Ellington
Charles Mingus
Jerry's Newport photos reside in the Library of Congress along with those of his son Robert. His photo of Bob Dylan with
Al Kooper, Newport 1965, appeared prominently in the Martin Scorcese Documentary "American Masters: Bob Dylan"...
JEROME CORWIN of Laurelmead, Blackstone Boulevard, Providence
March 12, 1913 to April 3, 2015
Son of Sol and Anna Aaronson Cohen, Poland/Russia, New York City, and Providence, RI.
who owned and operated the Wall Paper Department at the Outlet Company for many years,
and were founders of Temple Emmanu-El in Providence, and Ledgemont Country Club.
Brother of the late Sylvia Goldshine
Devoted Husband for 62 years of the late Phyllis Littman Corwin, a 1938 graduate of Brown University.
Father of son Robert of Philadelphia and son Stuart and his wife Susan of Petaluma, CA.
Jerry was born in Providence, where he lived for 102 years.
Graduated from Hope High School in 1930 and Rhode Island School of Design in 1934.
Vice President of the College Chapter of the RISD Alumni Association.
Board Member, Life Member of the Providence Art Club
Life Member of Ledgemont Country Club
Life Member of Temple Beth El
The family also owned a summer home on Cape Cod, where they spent their early years on
the beach in Hyannisport, and owned a winter retirement home in Delray Beach, Florida.
JERRY CORWIN'S GREETING CARD CAREER
In a proclamation issued on his retirement recognizing his role in the growth and success of the
company, Jerry Corwin was praised for "leading Paramount from being a small maker of Christmas
box assortments into one of the most successful all-occasion greeting card publishers in the world."
In three decades as Executive Vice President, Creative Director, and "photographer
extraordinaire", Jerry led the industry from producing birthday, Mother's Day, and Christmas
cards illustrated with watercolors of flowers matched with corny verses, to producing sophisticated
cards with photographs printed on acetate matched with free form prose. Jerry developed
countless "promotions", from "Paramount Pets", to satin pads with lush images of roses or a portrait
remembering President Kennedy, to the "Images" line of cards that revolutionized the industry as
"the world's leading producer of photographic greeting cards."
Jerry kept Tony Stone's small London photography studio busy shooting fabulous quality 8x10 film of
lush roses. With a large catalog of images, Tony began selling stock images, until Tony Stone Images
was purchased to become Getty Images, the largest stock agency in the world.
Realizing that Paramount had accumulated world wide rights to a huge collection of photographs,
Jerry added "International Sales Manager" to his portfolio, traveling the world with his wife Phyllis,
and developing business in 58 countries, seeing his commissions eclipse his salary. After his official
retirement as Executive V.P. and Creative Director in 1978, Jerry continued to serve as International
Sales Manager as a consultant until 1985. Jerry mentored greeting card publishers worldwide,
teaching the business to publishers who would become the most successful in every corner of the
globe, from Asia and Arab states to South and Central America. At a time when it was nearly
impossible to transfer funds from many foreign countries, and communication could take weeks,
necessity required virtually inventing many of the wheels of international trade when few
multinational companies existed.
While not in his portfolio, Jerry secured and supervised the company's first major account, the
J.J. Newbury Stores in the 1950's, initiated Paramount's stock control system, and convinced the
owners to make a young son-in-law, James Winston, the President of Paramount. With "Jimmy's"
financial acumen and Jerry's creative skill, the two proved a very effective team, bringing the
company to unprecedented success as a leader in the industry.
PHYLLIS LITTMAN CORWIN
1917 TO 2005
CORWIN, PHYLLIS LITTMAN, 88, of Laurelmead, Blackstone Boulevard, Providence, died
Sunday, December 4th, 2005. Born in Manhattan, daughter of the late Samuel and Anna (Kenner)
Littman, and sister of the late Charlotte Cohen, she is survived by her husband,
Jerome Corwin, her son Robert of Philadelphia, and son Stuart and his wife Susan of Petaluma, CA.
Her family moved from NY to Providence in the late 1920s after selling their housewares
store at 1086 Park Avenue to fund the turning of the Kenner cousin's shoelace company into
American Insulated Wire Co. After graduating from Classical High School in 1934, and
PembrokeCollege/Brown University in 1938 with Final Highest Honors, she became a Social
Worker, and later received a Master's Degree at age 60 from Rhode Island College.
Phyllis was a devoted mother, traveled the world with her husband, worked for the
Girl Scouts, Association for the Blind, and Bradley Hospital, and was active as
a Docent and Associate at the RISD and Boca Raton Museums, and in the Sisterhood
of Temple Beth El and as an alumna of Brown.
Web Site Created by Robert Corwin
We thank cousins Caryl Sheinbatt and Sheldon Cohen, with special thanks to cousin Norman Cohen, who was with us to the end.
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