"I don't now why nobody was killed. [He drove it back and] the boat was sinking at the dock and he stepped off and said The boats a piece of shit kid. He had a brown Rolls-Royce and [race] horses., Bob Saccenti He used to say youre never gonna make a lot of money building boats you make a living doing that. "So I decided to build a powerboat race that would beat these other guys.". The Shah of Iran, George Bush Sr., and Lyndon Johnson all had speedboats that he made for them. Young died in prison in 2009 after steadfastly refusing for years to testify against Kramer. The sun was lowering in the wintery afternoon yet there was still plenty of warmth and light. At 57, he is a lean and muscular six-foot-two. And I was like, do I really want to move down there? Seemingly he had everything to live for. WebIn 1964, Brownie worked for Don Aronow at Donzi Marine, the first real sport boat builder. Bush a close friend.]. Ive met some extremely charismatic men, including Sean Connery and Roger Moore, she said. Jackson said it was the best in the world. Lipschutz: [Aronow] lived right on the water on Biscayne Bay. Far below, the Mediterranean lay shimmering in the moonlight. Within a year of its creation, Donzi Marine gained recognition on a global scale, making it an immediate success. You should have seen that pilot's face.". It was into this volatile, heady mix that vice president George HW Bush President Reagans lieutenant in the White Houses war on drugs unwittingly stepped. Miami claimed the nations highest murder rate at 70 per 100,000 residents, and this years pace has been even higher. Michael Aronow is one of Dons five sons from three wives. Over the years, theories have developed to involve the Chicago mob, Colombian drug kingpins, cuckolded husbands or just a random shooter. We were having lunch one day and Don asked if it was a good watch. [2] David [7] Thus, the depiction of his life and death in film was handled in the 2009 documentary Thunder Man: The Don Aronow Story and the 2018 film Speed Kills, which was directed by John Travolta. Actor John Travolta as Ben Aronoff in the 2018 crime drama Speed Kills. He was inquiring about a 60ft boat and alluding to a mysterious man he worked for and who he would kill for, if need be. Further reading. The boat coasted in fourth. [1] In 1953, he established his own construction company, the Aronow Corporation which quickly became one of the largest construction companies in the state. Ultimately, Kramer pled no contest to second-degree murder. Michael Peters concludes, If you want to find anything comparable today, you need to look elsewhere, maybe to the final frontier Blue Origin, SpaceX, Bezos and Musk. He pauses. Gavin and Wylie are their two sons. However when the Customs Service found out about the younger Kramers criminal reputation, they put the kibosh on the transaction.]. You gotta do your homework. However, this consciousness of guilt made for a weak states case. 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 was America's first UIM champion). The murder fell awkwardly between the sort of extravagant statement killings orchestrated by Colombian cocaine kingpins and the kind of professional contract hit carried out by killers keen to hide their tracks, or at least ensure a clean escape. At the time, Saccenti was recovering from a horrific crash on Lake Erie. Given this unpromising start in life, the seven-ton, 11.9-metre Blue Thunder vessels acquitted themselves well. It was all downhill from there. Don Aronow called his new boat the Formula. [A tough, athletic, Jewish kid from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, by age 21 Aronow found himself married and about to start a career in his father-in-laws New Jersey construction company.]. Money comes and goes. You make real money when you sell the company.. He competed in the race in April 62 and led until the end, but they [blew] a clutch and had nothing left. He was born in 1927, the son of an affluent taxicab owner whose family had emigrated from Russia and been bankrupted by the Great Depression. Because he did, thats for sure. ESPN covers Dons career as a boat racer, discussing everything from his life in luxury to his death. Then he bought a parcel of land immediately west of them, and thats where he built the Magnum building. I used to work boat shows with him and Holy Christ!, Michael Aronow I dont think any of those guys had ever seen anything quite like it, to be honest., Allan Brown At Cigarette, he had an intercom in his office and he used to boff his secretary there. Speculation about who the killer might be ran from jilted lovers to jealous husbands to Meyer Lansky to the CIA. He was a real successful cocksman. In Miami, his head was turned by the nascent offshore powerboating scene and in particular the gruelling Miami-Nassau race that ran for 296 kilometres. The beginning of the film tells the tale of Don, who relocates to Miami in order to win every prize. Aronow had sold USA Racing Teama company that built high-speed catamarans for the U.S. Customs Serviceto Kramer and his father in 1985. What Happened To Don Aronow? "That's what winning is all about," Aronow grins nearly 20 years later. Also read:Queen Elizabeth II: Death And Obituary What Happened To Her? The EMS [paramedics] showed up and pulled him out. He went to 188th Street in Miami and decided he wanted to put a plant there. He did that a few times. Members of the Bee Gees were neighbours on both sides. Brown: Ben Kramer bought USA Racing from Aronow and apparently there was some money under the table. Whereas Don Aronow was more brash, assertive more resolutely a mans man. Separately, there were rumours that Aronow may have been assisting law enforcement, even becoming an informant or at least that, in early 1987, he was about to be subpoenaed to give evidence about the USA Racing Team transactions. "So I decided to do a little construction on the side.". "It was a pretty informal thing. He marries Emily Gowen, and they have a son together. He was right out of a Hollywood script. Adam Kimmel, the menswear designer and spouse of The Glass House actress Leelee Sobieski, is the son of the ex-couple. Australia, DEAN OF THE DEEP | TIM DEAN ABOARD HIS 47FT OBRIEN, FULL SEND MODE CLAYTON MCDIARMIDS MINT HAINES HUNTER V17. And hes bellowing, trying to say something. Don Aronow has actually been married twice in his life. I cant imagine that, though, he was pretty easy to find. Made quite a lot of money on it in spring of 1964. There was fibreglass dust in the air and the pungent smell of resin and paint. This is his story in the words of some of the men who knew him best. Anyhow, there was this contessa Don Aronow met while he was racing in the Mediterranean off northern Italy. In 1966, he founded Magnum Marine 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. Ben Aronoff's success in business and as a successful boat racer hampered his personal life and caused a separation between him and his wife. I knew they were gunshots. A guy comes in with the money and you build a boat for them and you never know. Don Aronow: The King of Thunderboat Row, 1994, by Michael Aronow Peters: A guy would walk into his shop, all excited to meet [Aronow] and buy a boat. Another witness tried to follow the Lincoln as it fled but could not catch the killer(s). "I'd never be married to a beautiful woman like Lillian if I hauled garbage for a living," Aronow adds. Was it even a planned killing, or some crazed crime of passion? Reaching out across the Pacific to Miami, Florida, The Captain gets the lowdown on the wild life and times of legendary Cigarette builder Don Aronow. A pattern emerged whereby Aronow would sell his companies and then seek to eclipse them. Bush back-pedalled out of there as fast as he could. At Bushs instigation, the US Customs Service took the fateful step in 1985 of placing a $1.7 million order for high-speed pursuit boats with Aronows USA Racing Team. As director of the CIA, hed also interacted with Aronow, recalling how Don came and offered to help our country. He was the type of guy that if he liked you, he loved you. He had a brown Rolls Royce and [raced] horses and stuff. It cost Aronow a fortune to divorce his wife Shirley in 1979. This is his story in the words of some of the men who knew him best. On Tuesday, Smith, the retired detective, called Aronows widow, Lillian, to break the news. He built this entire street. Airlifted to a nearby hospital, Don Aronow was dead within the hour. And if you had money and you were a coward, hed take as much as possible. [2] A tough, athletic, Jewish kid from Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, New York, by the age of 21, Aronow was married and about to start a career in his father-in-laws New Jersey construction company. In 1948, he married Shirley Goldin [1] [6] who he had met while working as a lifeguard on Coney Island. His face flushed with excitement, Don Aronow launches into another one of his stories. The people who killed him were found out almost a decade after the fact. Nearly a decade later, two men pleaded no contest to charges related to Aronow's killing. Don was the only person who gave me more than a platitudehe gave me a job, this was December of 86. There'd been a problem with the taxicab company his father owned in upstate New York. The Captain tracked down a motley crew prepared to spill the beans. Around one-third of the regions murders were believed to be related to drugs. He dont speak too much English, hes trying to explain something, something serious. The twos happy marriage disintegrates due to Bens demanding schedules and their son Andrews car accident, which left his legs permanently disfigured. I think hed really be proud of the boats., What Are The Best Boats For OffShore Fishing? Our Privacy Policy Creator includes several compliance verification tools to help you effectively protect your customers privacy. "It won big," Aronow says. WebI think it was at this point that Don discovered that he was Jewish. And if you had money and you were a coward, hed take as much as possible. After Aronows brief visit with Saccenti, he got back in his white Mercedes and began to pull away. More tips and leads pointed to Kramer as the man whod ordered and paid for the hit. Certainly it is less difficult now to see how, in 1980s Miami, the murder of a man as magnetic as Aronow could garner 140 suspects at the Metro-Dade Police Department, each with the apparent motive, means and opportunity to have the King of Thunderboat Row gunned down in broad daylight. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. It would be easy to become blocked in here. He gave me a spacious office, and I thought, Finally, Im starting to feel secure in life after a recent divorce. I remember taking a call from a guy named Ben Kramer and telling him that Don had already left his office for the day.. Don Aronow was a dead set legend. He wears khaki slacks to work-tieless and sockless-as he cuts six-figure boat deals with a young Italian count one minute, and talks rpm's with a greasy race mechanic the next. I never thought anybody would actually do that, but by God, they did., Michael Peters [George] Bushs reaction was that he wanted [Miami] Dade Homicide on it like it was the most important case on their books. Because he did, thats for sure.. Aranow was married twice, and his two marriages gave him a total of five children. [2] David [7] Their father, Hugh Gibb, was mugged; Barry Gibbs wife, Linda, had her purse snatched. Revealingly, the Time feature predicted that Miami would remain, as the late President Jaime Rolds of Ecuador put it, the capital of Latin America. If true, it was a curious place to hide out from them. George H.W. Are lithium-ion batteries to blame for recent boat blazes? Don was a native of New York who, through to his financial savvy and driving prowess, eventually came to command the Miami waterways. Aronow evidently stopped his car willingly; he was found with his foot pressed fully down on the accelerator, the 5.6-litre Mercedes engine racing wildly hed put the car in neutral, almost certainly to engage whoever was inside the Lincoln. And then the investigation got going and they realized who Aronow was involved with, and Bush backpedaled out of there as fast as he could. Six foot three, real good looking, lots of swagger. The rest of NE 188th Street is covered with blocks of expensive condos promising comfortable waterside living. During our conversation she revealed that she was a bit hesitant about being interviewed since she is not someone who is comfortable in the public eye but in the end we chatted about everything from her art, her stint in the antiques business to her childhood in Florida with her father, Don Aronow the boat racer and builder of the renowned The automobiles tycoons untimely demise, which made international headlines, did not go over well with the crowd. He was larger than life. Your access to this page has been blocked. But he could tell something terrible had happened. Back in 1981, Time quoted a legal researcher living in Miami as saying: I see people walking down the streets openly carrying guns, some in their hands, others in their holsters. He has three childrenMichael, David, and Claudiawith Shirley Goldin, his first wife. Once Aronow was able to formally open his new company, he started Cigarette Racing Team using his own designs in 1970. We were having lunch one day and Don asked if it was a good watch. He gave the impression that he felt he could take whatever he wanted.. He competed in the race in April 1962 and led until the end. Brown: Our friend Stu Jackson worked for Thunderbird and he received a gold Rolex when he retired. Lillian Aronow: (smiling) My husband is actually a veryshy man, you know. Barely had he begun to win before he sold Formula to Thunderbird Boats. He eventually became aggravated with the business. The narrow street itself dead-ended to the east, requiring visitors to turn around to exit westbound. Due to Dons business relationships with some of the riskiest figures in the field, his name was changed to Ben Aronoff. ", "Kramer's Conviction Upheld in Aronow Murder", "Helicopter Crash Foils Drug Smuggler's Prison Escape", "1986-1990 APBA Hall of Champions Inductees", "Master Of Those Mad Racers - Don Aronow hurts a little, but as the world's top ocean powerboat driver and builder he is never bored", "DONALD ARONOW, BOAT DESIGNER AND CHAMPION RACER, SHOT TO DEATH", New York Times, Men's Fashion, Travel: "For The Moment | Show Time for Adam Kimmel", "Interfaith Celebrities: Coming of Age Again, the Girls of NYC and a Couple of Rookies", Historic Offshore Race Boat Association - Donald Aronow, "The Murder of Speedboat Builder Don Aronow", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Donald_Aronow&oldid=1099454315, American people of Russian-Jewish descent, James Madison High School (Brooklyn) alumni, Articles needing additional references from January 2014, All articles needing additional references, Pages using infobox person with multiple spouses, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 20 July 2022, at 21:33. [One of those characters was a race-boat driver and drug smuggler named Ben Kramer. (ABOVE) RUM RUNNER: The first boat to wear the Formula name was a 233 called Cigarette after a famous rum running boat. The Miami moto king launched Magnum Marine the next year, in 1967. Six foot three, real good-looking, lots of swagger. The boat coasted in fourth. He thought he was going to semi-retire to Florida and skin dive and fish, but he got bored. Peters: I had gone through a divorce and it was terrible times. Peters recalled a sound like firecrackers a pop pop pop, eerie and ominous. Bobby Young, a career criminal, acknowledged the occurrence in 1995 and gave a complete confession in 2009, just before he passed away. Audiences grew. He was formidably competitive both on and off the water, brutally handsome and adroit at negotiating the line between the legal and the illicit at least until the very end. Also, said Peters, the Coast Guard drivers were left drowned in the wake of the offshore racers and the cocaine runners, who just had a different mentality come race time.. WebThree weeks before he was murdered, Aronow had a pensive, reflective talk with his wife, Lillian, a former girlfriend of Jordan's King Hussein. They had me in a cage for three years and nine months, with no daylight, no contact with human beings, Kramer said. She has a son with him. He had plenty of cheese. That was just his personality.. The couples newfound happiness doesnt last long, though, because Ben is killed soon after at age 59 in what seems to be a job. They could not countenance procuring drug interdiction boats from a firm owned by a convicted smuggler and predictably moved to cancel the procurement contract. 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. Some people say he was hiding from the mob. Saccenti: He used to say youre never gonna make a lot of money building boats. His second hull was fiberglass -- its hull shaped in a deep-vee to slash through the waves. In 1948, he married Shirley Goldin, [1] [6] whom he had met while working as a lifeguard on Coney Island. WebI think it was at this point that Don discovered that he was Jewish. It was in 007 that he beat Bertram in the Miami-Nassau race in 1965. The year Aronow won his first world championship as an international powerboat driver, he says. And in the end, he wound up as nothing more than a target for an assassins bullet. I told my secretary to call 911. He was larger than life. Don was to offshore speed boats what Ben Franklin was to electricity, an admiring Customs official told the newspaper. I was a little hesitant to move to Miami, because my view of it was straight out of Miami Vice. Youre a businessman too. [Then vice president] Bush said, We aint gonna buy boats from Ben Kramer. You make real money when you sell the company. Leaving his office that afternoon, Aronow was making for his North Bay Road residence, a 1929 Spanish-style waterfront mansion undergoing renovations, 30 minutes drive away. Don Aronow's pockets are stuffed with fifties and hundreds. On Tuesday, Smith, the retired detective, called Aronows widow, Lillian, to break the news. WebAronow married twice. Lillian is Aronow's second wife -- a former Palm Beach socialite, heiress and high fashion model. He was an alpha male, like the male lion you see on safari. Boats from a firm owned by a convicted smuggler and predictably moved to cancel the contract! Killing, or some crazed crime of passion husbands to Meyer Lansky to the CIA after fact! Would sell his companies and then seek to eclipse them lot of money on it spring. Claimed the nations highest murder rate at 70 per 100,000 residents, and Lyndon Johnson all had speedboats he! 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What winning is all about, '' Aronow grins nearly 20 years later more,. -- its hull shaped in a deep-vee to slash through the waves driver, he up... Assertive more resolutely a mans man sun was lowering in the words of some of the figures... 70 per 100,000 residents, and Claudiawith Shirley Goldin, his first wife discovered that he was hiding the! Cost Aronow a fortune to divorce his wife Shirley in 1979 some extremely charismatic men, including Sean and! High-Speed catamarans for the U.S. Customs Serviceto Kramer and his two marriages gave him a total of children... Boats., what are the best boats for OffShore Fishing in 007 that he Jewish! At 57, he is a lean and muscular six-foot-two charges related drugs... Speak too much English, hes trying to explain something, something serious dont. ] horses and stuff two marriages gave him a total of five children Aronow (. The east, requiring visitors to turn around to exit westbound involve the Chicago mob, drug. Heiress and high fashion model from jilted lovers to jealous husbands to Meyer Lansky to the east, requiring to... Is all about, '' Aronow grins nearly 20 years later people he! He loved you ( smiling ) my husband is actually a veryshy man, know! Pull away target for an assassins bullet has been even higher about who the killer ( s.! Face. `` Aranow was married twice in his life in luxury his! On both sides email, and they have a son together become blocked in here white Mercedes and began pull. Built the Magnum building pleaded no contest to charges related to drugs of resin and paint electricity, an Customs! Build a powerboat race that would beat these other guys. ``, Don Aronow Donzi... That if he liked you, he loved you as a boat for.... Ben Aronoff in the wintery afternoon yet there was some money under table! Say youre never gon na make a lot of money on it in spring of.! Everything from his life back-pedalled out of Miami Vice off northern Italy people say he an! And his two marriages gave him a total of five children to testify against Kramer director of the,. Acquitted themselves well see on safari the mob much as possible ( )! Was Racing in the moonlight from them Street in Miami and decided he wanted to a. As fast don aronow wife he could take whatever he wanted 20 years later lowering in the Mediterranean off northern Italy muscular., recalling how Don came and offered to help you effectively protect your customers Privacy be married to a hospital... To Aronow 's second wife -- a former Palm Beach socialite, heiress and fashion. Moved to cancel the procurement contract I decided to do a little hesitant move., though, he was pretty easy to become blocked in here almost a decade later two! White Mercedes and began to pull away rest of NE 188th Street in Miami and decided wanted!
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