Ray Pilszak, left front, cuts the rug with Joan Saltel of Buddy Lee Attractions at the Buddy Lee Attractions Christmas party in Nashville in 2001.
Ray Pilszak, persistent adman who spent nearly 50 years with Amusement Business, is being fondly remembered by the many in the industry he befriended and even kindly badgered to buy ads in AB over the years. Pilszak died Saturday, Jan. 18, in Chicago at age 82.
“AB was his life,” said Tom Powell, now with the Outdoor Amusement Business Association who was longtime editor of Amusement Business. He was one of the good guys, and just about anyone who has been in the live entertainment business at least a quarter of a century has a Ray Pilszak story to tell, whether it involves selling, dancing or whistling.
Born in Chicago, Pilszak moved between Chicago and New York during his early years as salesman for Funspot Magazine, published by Billboard Publications. In 1961, Billboard was split, when the outdoor entertainment section of the magazine, merged with Funspot to form Amusement Business, which covered the “mass entertainment” business at venues, fairs, festivals, amusement parks and carnivals. Pilszak was named director of sales for Amusement Business in July 1967 and moved to Nashville, where AB was relocated, in 1970.
He was a fixture in the business, recognized with the Mae Boren Axton Award from the Academy of Country Music during its Super Faces Concert Show of CRS in 2001, and with the Hall of Fame Award from the International Entertainment Buyers Association in 2012.
He was involved on the board of both ACM and IEBA and he was “everywhere” at industry meetings, from fair association meetings state by state, to talent gatherings, to International Association of Amusement Parks & Attractions, International Association of Venue Managers and International Association of Fairs & Expositions annual conventions.
“He was a great dancer,” added Joan Saltel, Buddy Lee Attractions, a former tap dancer before becoming an agent who has known Pilszak for half a century. “That was our connection. We loved to dance.”
“He was also a solid friend,” Saltel added. He would always pick her up at the Nashville airport, take her to her hotel and out to dinner, welcoming her to town. He was with her when she received her Lifetime Achievement Award from IEBA five years ago, the last time she saw him on the road.
“He wasn’t such a good whistler, though,” she added. Tony Conway, Conway Entertainment Group, even nicknamed Pilszak “The Whistler.”
“The first time I met Ray was in the late 70’s, after I went to work for Buddy Lee Attractions,” Conway recalled of his 1976 move into that agency. “I remember Buddy saying Ray Pilszak and Tom Powell were going to stop by the office and Ray would be talking about ads and Tom would want to know about the acts.”
The young Conway proceeded to travel all over the country for fair association meetings, “and Ray was at every one of them.”
“He was an amazing salesperson. He’d wear you out,” Conway recalled. He remembered one time at the IAFE convention in Las Vegas when Pilszak was selling ad space to Buddy Lee and Lee finally broke, saying, “If I buy this package, will you quit AB and come work for us?”
He never heard “no” and he never lost touch. He would drop by unannounced and bring Conway pictures that had been published in AB. His calling card to many in the business was distribution of AB photos, many of which now hang on walls in agency, carnival, fair and venue offices all over the country. If it wasn’t a picture, he brought Polish sausage from one of his many trips to Chicago. “It was so thoughtful,” Conway said.
Pilszak was active in every aspect of live entertainment that Amusement Business covered, including the arena industry. Mike McGee, consultant, worked as manager at several venues before starting his own firm, Leisure Management International.
“Ray was a guy that was passionate about his work, the industry and relationships that he formed,” McGee said of Pilszak. “He was always selling, whether it was display advertising for a special in Amusement Business or in (his baby) the annual AudArena Stadium Guide.
“Tom Powell always teased Ray about his name. Tom once told a group of us that Ray struggled with his name and had actually had it changed. Tom said that Ray was born Al Pilszak.”
McGee recalled Pilszak’s competitive spirit and love for the annual AB softball game during IAAM (now IAVM) and the poker game with Sam Fulco, Fred Stace and Chris Bigelow, which was held in the AB hospitality suite. “I remember Ray working the trade show floor with the precision of a surgeon, inviting attendees to the AB suite and to come and sift through the many pictures that had been pulled from the AB picture morgue.”
Introducing Powell and Pilszak to Lawrence Welk, who was playing at The Summit in Houston during his farewell tour in 1980 was a highlight McGee recalled. The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo was also playing in Houston during that time and Pilszak and Powell had come to Houston to cover both events. “Following a visit with Welk prior to the show, Welk's promoter Lon Varnell pulled me to the side saying that he got tickled in that he thought that, upon meeting Lawrence Welk, Ray was a bit ‘giddy,’ somewhat similar to a young girl meeting a teen idol,” McGee recalled. “I teased him for a while for being a Welk groupie.”
Powell remembered the days when John McCartney of Billboard had to introduce him and Pilszak to the talent agents decades ago and they had to describe AB as part of Billboard. But the dynamic duo finally had an impact for themselves and AB was established. Pilszak was “everywhere, he never missed a party,” Powell recalled. “Industry friends used to say, ‘Ray sold it and I gave it away.’ We made a million trips together.”
Pilszak retired from Amusement Business in 2001, but he was still selling, sometimes well after deadline as the legend goes, until the publication was shelved in 2006. Then he worked for a couple of years with AmusementNow, which published a fair directory for a few years.
He is survived by his wife, Georgia, daughter, Krisa, and granddaughter, Kalina; neice Karen Henley and her husband, Paul, and son, Ryan.
Interviewed for this story: Tom Powell, (615) 319-1258; Tony Conway, (615) 724-1818; Joan Saltel, (816) 454-0839; Mike McGee, (713) 503-9859