Baxter Buck
In 1985, Ira Lipman was one of several partners who formed what would become Contemporary Media, Inc., Memphis magazine’s parent company. In addition to his business acumen as founder and long-time president of Guardsmark, the Memphis-based security firm, he was a passionate advocate for civil rights, as well as a lover of history and the arts.
As a teenager, Lipman attended Little Rock Central High School, where he assisted NBC news reporter John Chancellor with his coverage of the 1957 integration by the Little Rock Nine and the crisis that followed. The two became lifelong friends, and in 1995 Lipman created the John Chancellor Award for distinguished journalism, now presented annually at Columbia, where that university in 2018 established the Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights. A fierce defender of the First Amendment, his influence was profound for all who worked here at Memphis magazine and our other publications.
Mr. Lipman passed away on September 16, 2019. We mourn his family’s loss, and our own.
Editor's Note: At The Dixon Gallery and Gardens through January 5, 2020, is "The Colorful World of Friedel Dzubas," This collection of more than 40 paintings is drawn from the personal collection of Ira Lipman, who began acquiring the works of this Abstract Expressionist almost 40 years ago.
