My First Handshake
Wednesday January 24, 2018 | Filed under:
Shortly after I joined ASI nearly 15 years ago, I was headed to Chicago when our chairman, Norman Cohn, told me to be sure to visit DARD Products, a multimillion-dollar supplier headed by his long-standing friend, Cary Shevin. Norman assured me I’d enjoy meeting Cary, his wife, Harriette, and their daughter, Bonni.
And that’s how Cary became the very first supplier in our industry I ever shook hands with. That first meeting included a brown bag lunch in the company’s conference room with his family and his senior team, a tour of DARD’s impressive operations and a discussion about the intricacies of running a family business.
Through the years, I learned a lot from Cary and I join so many in our industry mourning his recent passing, at 81, knowing our industry, and ASI, has lost an undisputed leader and friend.
Click here to read his obituary.
Cary helped me better understand the role ASI can and should play for member companies, and the advice he offered on a wide range of topics and hot-button issues served me very well over the years. What I remember most was how calm, thoughtful and just plain nice he was in every exchange, whether over email or in person at our shows.
Clearly, he loved running a family business, which he inherited from his father, who ran DARD from their Chicago apartment, with young Cary doing hot-stamp printing in the garage. Now his own daughter, Bonni Shevin-Sandy, runs the entire operation as CEO and president.
On behalf of everyone at ASI, I offer sincere condolences to Cary’s family and his many friends. He will be missed!