Dean L. Gitter (September 21, 1935 – November 21, 2018) was an entrepreneur, musician, and real estate developer in the

Catskills The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas cl ...

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

.''Chronogram'': "Dean Gitter, The Catskills' Last Resort?" by Josh Ripps, May 2002
/ref>''Chronogram'': "Local Luminary: Dean Gitter", by Brian K. Mahoney, October 2007
/ref>

Biography

Gitter was a graduate of

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, the

London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. It is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. LAMDA's Principal is ...

, and the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

. In the 1950s, Gitter produced recordings for

Riverside Records Riverside Records was an American jazz record company and label. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer, Jr, under his firm Bill Grauer Productions in 1953, the label played an important role in the jazz record industry for a decade. Riverside ...

, notably

Odetta Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and a civil rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire co ...

's debut album,

Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues ''Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues'' is the debut solo album by American folk singer Odetta. It was released in November 1956 by Tradition Records. Like much of Odetta's early work, ''Ballads and Blues'' combines traditional songs (e.g. spirituals ...

. Under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

of Dean Laurence, he produced Sam Gary's only album for the

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

(UK) and Transition (US) labels.Sam Gary Discography
/ref> In 1958, Gitter recorded a folk album titled ''Ghost Ballads'', released by Riverside Records.Riverside Records Catalog
/ref> In 1969, Gitter's University Cinema Association opened the

Orson Welles Cinema The Orson Welles Cinema was a movie theater at 1001 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts that operated from 1969 to 1986. Showcasing independents, foreign films and revivals, it became a focal point of the Boston, Massachusetts, Boston ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

.''Boston Phoenix'': Harvard Square, by Lloyd Schwartz, November 15, 2006
/ref>''Harvard Crimson'', Parade, City Council Proclamation Greet New Orson Welles Cinema, by Frank Rich, April 8, 1969
/ref> Other business ventures included starting a Kingston-based regional TV station (WTZA), co-founding the Big Indian Spring Water Company, and running Catskill Corners, including the Emerson in

Mount Tremper, New York Mount Tremper is a hamlet in the Town of Shandaken in Ulster County, New York, United States. Mount Tremper is situated to the east of New York State Route 28 and to the north of New York State Route 212, within the Catskill Park. The community ...

. The Emerson is a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World, and Country Store at the Emerson features the world's largest

kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a regular symmetrical pattern when v ...

.''The Catskills Alive!'', by Francine Silverman''New York Times'', A Field of Visions Is His Dream, Andrew C. Revkin, July 20, 1996.
/ref> Gitter was the Managing Partner of Crossroads Ventures, LLC, a

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

company located in

Shandaken, New York Shandaken is a town on the northern border of Ulster County, New York, United States, northwest of Kingston, New York. As of the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 2,866.2020 US Census, Shandaken, Ulster County, New York https://www. ...

.Dun & Bradstreet, Inc., 2009
/ref>Catskill Heritage Regional Directory
/ref> He later taught

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

Big Indian, New York Big Indian is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet within the Shandaken, New York, Town of Shandaken in Ulster County, New York, Ulster County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is located along New York State Route 28, State Route 28, within t ...

, where his spiritual teacher was

Albert Rudolph Rudi, born Albert Rudolph (January 24, 1928 – February 21, 1973), also known as Swami Rudrananda, was born in Brooklyn, New York. Rudi was a spiritual teacher and an antiquities entrepreneur in New York City.Swami Rudrananda udi ''Spiri ...

. In 2013, he released the album "

Carl Sandburg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg ...

's American Songbag 2.0". In 2016, Gitter retired from the company and relocated to

Taos County Taos County is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 32,937. Its county seat is Taos. The county was formed in 1852 as one of the original nine counties in New Mexico Territory. Taos County compris ...

Northern New Mexico Northern New Mexico in cultural terms usually refers to the area of heavy-Spanish settlement in the north-central part of New Mexico. However, New Mexico state government also uses the term to mean the northwest and north central, but to exclude ...

, where he owned a farm, raised horses, and recorded music. In 2014, Gitter released ''Old Folkies Never Die'', his first studio album of original material since ''Ghost Ballads'', one of the longest gaps between studio albums at 57 years. On November 21, 2018, Gitter died at the age of 83.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gitter, Dean American real estate businesspeople 2018 deaths People from the Catskills 1935 births Harvard Business School alumni Phillips Academy alumni Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art Harvard College alumni