By Maria Saporta
One of Atlanta’s legendary leaders in public relations — Norman Wolfe — has passed away. Wolfe was a co-founder of the prestigious public relations firm – Cohn & Wolfe — now a global communications firm.
“It is with great sadness that I share the news of the death of Cohn & Wolfe’s co-founder, Norman Wolfe,” Stephen M. Brown, managing partner of Cohn & Wolfe’s Atlanta office, wrote in an email this morning.
Brown said he did not yet have any details on about the funeral or service arrangements, but he did share a statement from Cohn & Wolfe about the passing of the co-founder.
“Norman Wolfe, co-founder of global communications firm Cohn & Wolfe, passed away on Wednesday, June 4. Norm founded Cohn & Wolfe with Bob Cohn in Atlanta in 1970, after a career in journalism where he became Executive Editor of the Orlando Sentinel,” the Cohn & Wolfe statement said.
“His passion was public affairs and he directed the crisis communications efforts for Cohn & Wolfe. Bob and Norm sold Cohn & Wolfe to Y&R in 1984 and led the agency as an independent network with a distinct identity. Norm retired from his position as Vice Chairman of Cohn & Wolfe in 1992 and continued to provide counsel on a number of clients for a number of years,” the statement continued.
Cohn & Wolfe CEO Donna Imperato also paid tribute to the co-founder in a statement.
“We were very saddened to hear of the passing of Norman Wolfe,” she wrote. “In 1970, Norm founded Cohn & Wolfe, along with Bob Cohn, and had the foresight and determination to imagine a public relations agency unlike any other. Norm was a true visionary, baking branding and creativity into the DNA of the agency from the very start. He and Bob created a powerful consumer marketing agency that grew from Atlanta to New York and then went on to become a global leader. Our condolences go out to his family and friends during this difficult time.”
Brown shared some other accomplishments that Wolfe and his team had made over the years:
· Wolfe worked behind the scenes on some of Atlanta’s biggest public projects including the fourth runway at Hartsfield International Airport; the widening of the city’s major interstates; the long struggle to build Georgia 400; and ‘Get Gwinnett Wet’ in support of Gwinnett County;
· The agency, under the leadership of both co-founders, did a lot of Olympics work from the start and had a strong sports marketing practice from the early days. Major Olympics work including a campaign for Coca-Cola in 1980 at Lake Placid;
