Donald Joel Aronow (March 3, 1927 – February 3, 1987) was an American designer, builder and racer of the famous

Magnum Marine The Magnum Marine Corporation is an American builder of performance and luxury yachts based in Miami, Florida. Design history The beginning of the American high-performance, deep-vee boat-building industry is said to have started in 1958, with t ...

, Cary,

Cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opp ...

, Donzi, and

Formula In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwee ...

speedboats. He built

speedboats A motorboat, speedboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion engine, the gea ...

for the Shah of Iran,

Charles Keating Charles Humphrey Keating Jr. (December 4, 1923 – March 31, 2014) was an American sportsman, lawyer, real estate developer, banker, financier, conservative activist, and convicted felon best known for his role in the savings and loan sca ...

Robert Vesco The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

Malcolm Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes (August 19, 1919 – February 24, 1990) was an American entrepreneur most prominently known as the publisher of ''Forbes'' magazine, founded by his father B. C. Forbes. He was known as an avid promoter of capitalism ...

, and

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

. Retired President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

owned several 16 ft. Donzi speedboats on his Texas ranch with which he would race his Secret Service agents.

Early life and education

Aronow was born in the

Sheepshead Bay Sheepshead, Sheephead, or Sheep's Head, may refer to: Fish * ''Archosargus probatocephalus'', a medium-sized saltwater fish of the Atlantic Ocean * Freshwater drum, ''Aplodinotus grunniens'', a medium-sized freshwater fish of North and Central Am ...

neighborhood of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

,"How a Kid From Brooklyn Put Go-Fast Boats On The Map" By Capt Ken Kreisler
''Power & Motor'' July 2000 the youngest son of

Russian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

immigrants"Don Aronow's Murder Leaves Miami Wondering: Were 'Cigarettes' Hazardous to His Health?"
Joshua Hammer, ''People'' March 30, 1987 Herman and Ruth Aronow. He had two elder sisters, Sylvia and Lillian. His father owned a gas station and then a taxi company which collapsed during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. He graduated a top athlete from James Madison High School in 1944, worked as a life guard at

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

, and enrolled at

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

. In 1945, he joined the merchant marine and worked overseas until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1947, he returned to the USA and completed his studies graduating from

in 1948 with a physical education degree earning letters in football, wrestling, and track.

Career

After school, he worked as a physical education teacher for a time until he accepted a job at his father-in-law's southern New Jersey construction business which was booming thanks to demand from returning World War II veterans. In 1953, he established his own construction company, the Aronow Corporation which quickly became one of the largest construction companies in the state. In 1959, at age of 32, the now-millionaire Aronow moved to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

with his family, where he began racing boats as a

hobby A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing Sport, sports, or pursu ...

. The hobby evolved into a business and by the end of 1962, he had formed the Formula Marine boat company, which he then sold to Merrick Lewis' Alliance Machine Corp out of Dayton, Ohio. In 1964 he started Donzi Marine; the Donzi brand became an international success and Aronow quickly sold the company to Teleflex Inc. in mid-1965. In 1966, he founded

and in 1967 proceeded to win his first World Championship driving two 27' Magnums, a single engine inboard and a triple engine Mercury-powered outboard. Since he was not supposed to be building boats in 1969, according to his non-compete clause following the sale of Magnum Marine, Aronow built the first Cigarette boat under the name ''Cary'', with the help of Elton Cary's

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...

facility. After campaigning his boat "The Cigarette" around the world with mechanic Norris "Knocky" House as his cockpit companion, he won his second World Championship in three years, and third consecutive United States Championship while becoming only the 2nd American in history to win the UIM Gold Medal of Honor (

Gar Wood Garfield Arthur "Gar" Wood (December 4, 1880 – June 19, 1971) was an American inventor, entrepreneur, and championship motorboat builder and racer who held the world water speed record on several occasions. He was the first man to travel ...

was America's first UIM champion). Once Aronow was able to formally open his new company, he started Cigarette Racing Team using his own designs in 1970. Having sold Cigarette for the last time in 1982 (after having sold it and purchasing it back in the late 1970s while merging it with his own Squadron Marine), he formed USA Racing Team and built the Blue Thunders, 39-foot catamarans used by the

United States Customs Service The United States Customs Service was the very first federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted c ...

to patrol U.S. waters and run down illegal offshore activities, especially

drug smuggling The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of drug prohibition, prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibitionism, prohibit trade, except under license, ...

. Aronow's close friend at the time, Vice President

George Bush George Bush most commonly refers to: * George H. W. Bush (1924–2018), 41st president of the United States and father of the 43rd president * George W. Bush (born 1946), 43rd president of the United States and son of the 41st president Georg ...

, was a former Cigarette owner and was involved in testing out the 39-foot cats prior to government approval. Aronow's boats won over 350 offshore races and he was a two-time world champion and three-time U.S. champion. He has been elected to every powerboating Hall of Fame in existence and as stated above, he and

were the only two Americans to have ever received the

UIM uim (short for "universal input method") is a multilingual input method framework. Applications can use it through so-called ''bridges''. Supported applications uim supports the X Window System legacy XIM (short for X Input Method) through ...

Gold Medal of Honor.

Murder

The great speed of Cigarette boats also made them a popular choice among cocaine smugglers. On February 3, 1987, Aronow was murdered in his car at the end of 188th Street in North Miami Beach where his boat companies operated. Aronow had just left a meeting with Bob Saccenti, part owner of Apache Power Boats together with partner Ben Kramer. Witnesses said a powder blue Lincoln pulled up next to Aronow's car from the opposite direction, and when Aronow rolled down its window the driver opened fire. Another witness tried to follow the Lincoln as it fled but could not catch the killer(s). The Lincoln drove over the grass to get away. Nearly a decade later, two men pleaded

no contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal Trial (law), trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the def ...

to charges related to Aronow's killing. In 1995, career criminal Bobby Young admitted to shooting Aronow and pleaded no contest to

second degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

, eventually providing a full confession in 2009 shortly before his death. Ben Kramer, winner of the 1986

American Power Boat Association The American Power Boat Association (APBA) is an American membership-owned corporation. In 1903, New York's Columbia Yacht Club had formulated a constitution for what ultimately became the APBA. It is the United States sanctioning authority for the ...

Offshore Championship, pleaded no contest to

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

in 1996. Kramer had a business dispute with Aronow after buying the latter's USA Racing Team but was forced to sell it back to Aronow after the Customs Service refused to do business with him. Kramer was already in prison on a life sentence with no possibility of parole following 1988 and 1989 convictions for drug smuggling and gun charges, as well as receiving a 1990 conviction for a failed escape attempt by helicopter from a federal prison near Miami. The story was also the basis for the 2009 documentary film ''Thunder Man: The Don Aronow Story'' and the 2018 movie '' Speed Kills'' with John Travolta.

Personal life

Aronow married twice. *In 1948, he married Shirley Goldin, whom he had met while working as a lifeguard on Coney Island. They had three children: **Michael who was a star athlete at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

until he was severely injured in a car accident in 1970 and used a wheelchair after that. **David **Claudia is a New York artist and ex-wife of real estate developer

Martin Kimmel Martin S. Kimmel (April 9, 1916 – April 15, 2008) was an American real estate developer and philanthropist who co-founded Kimco Realty Corporation, the largest builder of strip malls in the United States. Early life and education Kimmel was bor ...

. Their son is menswear designer Adam Kimmel, who is married to the actress

Leelee Sobieski Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta "Leelee" Sobieski (born June 10, 1983) is an American artist and former actress. She achieved fame in her teens with roles in films such as '' Deep Impact'', ''Eyes Wide Shut'', '' Joy Ride'', '' Here on Earth'', a ...

. *His second wife was former Wilhelmina model, Lillian Crawford, 24 years his junior. They had two sons, Gavin and Wylie.''New York Times'': "Paid Notice: Deaths KAYES, CECILY ELMES"
February 4, 2004 **Wylie is one of the cofounders of

Bored Ape Yacht Club Bored Ape Yacht Club, often colloquially called Bored Apes, Bored Ape or BAYC, is a non-fungible token (NFT) collection built on the Ethereum blockchain. The collection features Avatar (computing), profile pictures of cartoon apes that are procedu ...

, a prominent NFT collection.

Early life and education

Career

Murder

Personal life

References

Further reading