Aug
28

In Memoriam: Monroe P. Friedman

Monroe P. (“Monty”) Friedman passed away peacefully in the presence of his family on October 2, 2020. Monty was one of the most creative thinkers and prolific scholars to grace the field of consumer research, yet because his academic home was in a department with neither colleagues nor graduate students studying consumer topics, his passing went largely unnoticed within the ACCI community. Monty last attended an ACCI annual conference in 2016 and last published an article in the Journal of Consumer Affairs in 2005, so many younger readers of this journal may not be familiar with Monty or his work. There are several reasons, though, to read on.

First, Monty was a pillar of ACCI. He held the organization’s most important positions and received its most prestigious honors. Monty was a member of ACCI’s board of directors and ACCI president during 1989-90. Most notably, Monty was JCA’s editor from 1980 until 1984. I recall submitting an article to JCA during that period and, as an untenured assistant professor, was very happy when it was accepted for publication after some revisions. Before the article was sent for typesetting, Monty sent the manuscript to me covered in red markings. He had taken the time to edit my article in detail for grammar and grace of style, down to the last comma. I imagine he took similar care of other authors, probably because Monty wanted JCA to be perfect.