SETH GELBLUM ’75

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Clik here to view.Seth Gelbum died in his sleep at home in New York City on August 8, succumbing to the cancer that was first diagnosed in 1999. He was way too young. Seth, the third child of the late Morris and Sylvia Gelblum, grew up in Abington, Pennsylvania and Chapel Hill, graduating from Chapel Hill High in 1971. He joined his brothers, Rob and Peter, at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, which was also his father’s alma mater, and graduated in 1975. After living in New York for several years working for various film producers, Seth graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1982, and embarked on what was to become an extraordinary law career. Starting at the boutique firm of Frankfurt Garbus Klein & Selz, and ending at Loeb & Loeb LLP, he became one of the leading attorneys for the Broadway theater, representing the top ranks of actors, directors, designers, producers, and investors. In 2013, he became the first attorney to be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from New Dramatists, a leading developer of new playwrights, where he served as Board Chair for 20 years. Earlier this year, he became the first attorney to receive a Tony Honor, given by the American Theater Wing to people working in areas not eligible for Tony Awards. In addition to New Dramatists, Seth served for over 25 years on the Board of Directors of Lawyers for Children, which provides free services to children in foster care. He was also one of the founders and Board members of the Canavan Foundation, which supported research that identified the gene that caused the disease that ended the life of his daughter, Morgan, making it possible to develop an accurate carrier test. The Foundation continues to educate the public about the carrier screening available for Canavan disease and similar life-threatening genetic diseases. In addition to lending his energy and considerable talents to organizations, Seth was extraordinarily generous with his time, money, advice, and career help to individuals, particularly with his nieces and nephews and other young people. Among many other gifts, he and his wife, Orren Alperstein, hosted an astonishing number of friends and relatives at their home in New York City, often for months at a time and at least once for several years. Seth’s family was by far the most important aspect of his extremely full life. He is survived by Orren, his two surviving children, Madeleine (Ravi) and Aidan, his brothers Rob (Mary Lou) and Peter (Michele), his sister, Laura, of Carrboro, his sisters-in-law, Leigh (Richard), and Cory, his nieces and nephews Emily (Meghan), Reuben, Morris, Sophie, Jack, Sam, Sacha, Elianna, Miranda, and Olivia, two aunts, and 19 first cousins. We all miss him terribly. As one of the playwrights at New Dramatists said, “He left a legacy of good works and adoration. We should all hope for that kind of life.”