A Friend and Colleague Dies;

 Media Community Creates Memorial Fund to Help His Family

Larry Goldsmith, who passed away suddenly on July 2nd, 2012, was well known, respected and loved throughout the Southern California professional media community. Besides being the owner/chief videographer/editor for Starlight Video Productions, Larry served on the boards of directors for Professional Videographers Network (PVN); Media Communications Association-International LA/OC Chapter (MCAI) and the Media Alliance of Orange County (MAOC). Generous, always ready to help and with a sarcastic sense of humor, Larry made many friends over the years. They, along with a large gathering of media colleagues and family held a wonderful tribute to Larry's life on July 11th at the OC Sound Stage where Larry was also the house Stage Manager.

Please read his eulogy and donate to the Larry Goldsmith Memorial Fund below:

The memorial service was fittingly light-hearted, while also very moving. It paid tribute to Larry as friend, husband, father, grandfather and generous member of the professional media community. Everyone wore a Hawiian shirt--Larry's signature fashion statement--and a BBQ preceded the ceremonies. Olivia Goldsmith, Larry's wife, pulled one of his 73 Hawiian shirts from his closet to wear and had to laugh when she realized at the event that it still had a food stain from the last time Larry wore it! Rick Sherman performed some of Larry's favorite songs and was a caring MC. A number of speakers made the crowd both laugh and cry with poignant memories of the man we all knew and loved. While each of those was a marvelous memory in its own way spoken from the heart, we've chosen to print here a eulogy that is less personal and more factual for those who did not know Larry well.

LARRY GOLDSMITH – A EULOGY

What is the measure of a life? Is it in the number of breaths we take, or the number of beats of our heart? Or, is it in the number of days we walk upon this earth?

For some, perhaps.

But for others, a life is measured in different ways. It’s measured in the friendships we forge, the love we generate, and the memories we make.

Today, we’ve all come together to remember a man whose life was certainly not measured in the number of beats of his heart but rather in the size and scope and reach of that heart and how it touched us all.

Larry Goldsmith was born on April 12, 1945 in Brooklyn, New York. That same day, in Warm Springs, Georgia – Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the thirty-second president of the United States – died. Larry’s mother would often comment that on that day, “one great man left this earth while another great man arrived.”

Growing up in Brooklyn in the post war years was challenging for Larry. School in particular was a challenge – and because of this his parents moved him from one school to another, hoping one would stick.

What happened was that Larry learned the value of making friends. Different schools in Brooklyn meant different types of people to meet. Italians, Irish, Russians, Poles, Blacks, Whites, Christians, Jews – it didn’t matter. Larry became a friend to all.

A devoted son, Larry was his mother’s pride and joy. Summers were enjoyed with fishing trips with his father to Vermont or later, serving as a parking valet at a resort in the Catskills.

In 1961, the family moved to California and settled in Garden Grove. That Christmas season, Larry got a job at Robinson’s department store in the gift wrap section. He became an expert at wrapping, a skill he constantly amazed others with through elaborate and beautiful gift-wrapped productions.

But even here in Orange County, school remained a challenge and Larry bounced from one to another. But in the end he persevered and finally graduated from Rancho Alamitos High.

While attending Fullerton Junior College, Larry met Olivia. It was Valentine’s Day, 1964. Her first impression of him? With his slick-backed black hair and heavy Brooklyn accent, she thought he was a, “mini-thug.”

But Larry’s charm and optimism and affectionate nature ultimately won her over. In 1970, after he graduated from Cal Poly Pomona, they decided to tie the knot. But when both families couldn’t agree when or where, Larry and Olivia threw caution to the wind, drove to Las Vegas and decided to elope. Their plan was to be the first to be married that Saturday, which was Valentine’s Day. But when the justice of the peace grew impatient, they ended up getting married at 11:45pm on the thirteenth – Friday, the 13th!