VP, Group Publisher, Women\’s Wear Daily

Remembering Ralph is delightfully easy because he is delightfully unforgettable. First, as my professional colleague at WWD, and then very quickly becoming a dear friend, I see Ralph with that twinkle in his eyes, mischevous or sweet or happy or all three. And more energy and enthusiasm for all of life, I have never seen.

We loved enjoying the WWD CEO Summits together with our wives. His Claudia and and my Martha both so wonderfully funny, we would belly laugh our way through the entire Summit. And Ralph and I on the golf course were something to behold. Talk about creating a comedy out of that very serious game. We were goofy and goofier, hacking and whacking our way into the woods, the water, and the traps. You name it, we\’d screw it up. There was no handicap high enough for us.

But there were two places in Ralph\’s life where he had zero handicaps. One, as VP and Group Publisher of WWD, no one before him, and there will never be, a more super productive and beloved leader than Ralph Erardy. He was the best of the best and his team loved him.

Ralph\’s other and most important place where he will never be out-matched, was in his heart, where he carried his deep, deep love for his family. His lovely wife Claudia, his son Reid and his daughter Emily, were his life. He said to me once, with a warm smile on his face, that twinkle in his eyes, and with a grand sweep of his arm, like gesturing at all of life, \”Robin, none of it, nothing in the world matters at the end of the day except for Claudia and my kids.\”

When it came to his family, Ralph won all of the \”US Opens\” all of his life.

Robin Lewis