Obituary: Richard Tauber
He won three Emmys for his work at CNN and was inducted into the Space & Satellite Hall of Fame.
Richard Harold Tauber, 73, died Tuesday, April 10, 2018.
He was born June 30, 1944, in Paterson, N.J., alongside his fraternal twin brother, Bob. He was welcomed home by his mother, Carolyn (Midge) Greenberg, his father, Eugene Tauber, and his older brother, Stuart.
Dick spent most of his childhood in South Orange, N.J. He developed a love for theater, became the president of New Jersey Temple Youth and graduated from Columbia High School in 1963. In 1967 he graduated with a B.A. in theater from Denison University, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi. He studied at the University of Michigan and Columbia University and began pursuing technical theater work in addition to acting in New York City. He worked at Shakespeare in the Park under the direction of the famed Joseph Papp and later joined the crew for the original Broadway production of “Godspell,” where he ran lights on over 800 shows.
He met Marjorie Hirschberg in an acting class in Greenwich Village, and they were married in 1973. Dick then became the dean of students and Marjorie the head of the drama program at the Darrow School in New Lebanon, N.Y. In 1978 they celebrated the birth of their first child, Ethan. In 1981 they moved to Atlanta, where Dick had been hired to work at the newly established CNN and where he would continue to work for the next 32 years.
Dick and Marjorie bought a house and had their second child, Elizabeth, in 1983. The family spent many happy days together until 1997, when Marjorie passed away from ALS. During his time at CNN, Dick ran the satellite desk and became vice president of transmission systems and new technology. In 2013, after retiring from CNN, he was inducted into the Space & Satellite Hall of Fame. He became the president of the board of directors of the Southeast Chapter of Space & Satellite Professionals International (SSPI), which he helped found in 2005.
He received three Emmy Awards for his work at CNN. The first was in 1986 for his part in Turner Broadcasting System’s Goodwill Games coverage, the second in 2002 for CNN’s coverage of 9/11; and the third, a Technical Emmy, in 2007 for CNN’s mobile, IP news-gathering system. Dick was also vital in CNN’s groundbreaking coverage of the First Gulf War.
In addition to being very passionate about his work, Dick was an avid movie lover and delighted in blaring classic rock from his car speakers. He loved to tell jokes and anecdotes and had a wonderful sense of humor. He was an incredibly kind soul, extremely generous and helpful to everyone he knew, and mentored many people over the years.
He is survived by his two children and two brothers. He will be greatly missed by colleagues, friends and family.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, April 13, at Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care with interment to follow at Crest Lawn Memorial Park. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.
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