Jay Castle

Jay Castle piloted a final flight in his vintage aircraft to parts unknown on June 5, 2025, taking off from New York City after a short illness and a long, beautiful life.

 

He was born on December 23, 1933 in Brooklyn, growing up in Flatbush with his late parents, Benjamin and Blanche Castle, and late sister Dorene. A young, curly-haired Jay scuffled with neighborhood kids, sold ice cream on the beach at Coney Island, and played countless hours of sandlot baseball, once meeting a passing spectator by the name of Babe Ruth. Jay attended Brooklyn Tech High School and then Brooklyn College, from which, he has said, he purposely and proudly got kicked out.

 

After serving in the U.S. Army in Alabama, Jay returned to New York and worked as a sales director at various menswear manufacturers. His “side hustle” was starting the Matterhorn Ski Club, the first club to charter flights from the U.S. to ski areas throughout Europe. Jay then branched out to found the Zenith Tours travel agency, which gave him the opportunity to have many adventures abroad. It was the start of a lifelong love affair with travel that brought him to dozens of countries over the years. During a Matterhorn waterski trip, another lifelong love affair began: he met Sue Garonzik, and they were married in February 1965.

 

After Jay and Sue started a family and moved to Briarcliff, New York, Jay left the travel business and began writing novels and film scripts. His screenplay Distance, based on his experiences living on an Army base in the deep South, was made into an acclaimed film released in 1974 starring James Woods in one of his earliest roles. Jay’s work caught the attention of a partner at the ad agency Case & McGrath, where he was hired as a creative director on campaigns for arts-related accounts such as The Public Theatre, TV’s The Bionic Woman, and films including Annie Hall and Rocky. After several years, he and two partners started their own agency.

 

In the 1980’s, Jay and Sue took up sailing, making their Pearson 30 yacht, Call Me Ishmael, a second home for the next three decades. They later moved up to a C&C 36, which Jay named Bel Canto in a nod to his love of opera. Sue and Jay spent countless hours on the water around Long Island Sound, exploring, cruising, and racing with family and friends. Jay was a longtime member of the Norwalk Yacht Club, as well as the Corinthians. He was known for captaining a tight, fast crew toward a regatta finish line, collecting trophies despite (or due to) “a beer at every mark.”

 

When Jay retired from advertising, he rekindled a long-neglected passion for drawing and painting. In his 60's, he began taking classes at the Art Students League in Manhattan, developing not just his skills but a community of fellow artists and kindred spirits of varied ages and backgrounds. His body of work in oil and pastels includes landscapes and seascapes, unique exteriors and interiors, and every day moments in time made magical.

 

In 2000, Jay decided to come out of retirement to become business manager for In the Mix, the PBS teen documentary series that Sue created and produced. Through their new company Castle Works, Jay and Sue continued to produce and distribute educational television for young adults, becoming active in several international children’s media organizations and festivals.

 

Around that time, Jay heard another old passion calling out: aviation. He renewed the private pilot's license he had initially earned in the 1950's, and purchased a 1947 Aeronca Chief airplane. He flew that canary yellow bird, then Cessnas, well into his 80’s as a member of the UFO's (United Flying Octogenarians.) He once made the local news by performing an emergency landing in a field under no power, with both himself and his plane unscathed.

 

In 2013, Jay and Sue began spending their winters in Vero Beach, Florida, where Jay continued flying and painting. He was an active member of the Vero Beach chapter of the Florida Aero Club. As part of Gallery Veritas, a collective of six painters with shared studio space, he loved the camaraderie of diverse artists. In 2024, he exhibited a solo show of his work at the Gallery.

 

In his final two decades, Jay continued to seek out and enjoy new sources of community. He and Sue were members of The Coffee House in Manhattan, a dining and discussion club centered around the arts, as well as the Dutch Treat Club. Tooling around Vero Beach or his Upper East Side neighborhood, eventually with his signature walker, Jay's smile brightened the moods of the barista who sold him coffee and black-and-white cookies, the staff at his favorite sushi spot, the fruit seller on the corner, and even total strangers who were inspired to anonymously pick up his tab. 

 

You could say that Jay’s superpower was the ability to make friends everywhere he went. With his excellent (and irreverent) sense of humor, colorful stories, keen insights, and sparkly blue eyes, he could connect with people of all generations and walks of life. This vast landscape of friendship is possibly his most beautiful work of art, and a place where he will be deeply missed.

 

Jay had the biggest impact, of course, on the family who loved him so dearly: his wife Sue, his daughter Jennifer, his son-in-law Bill Spring, and his adored grandchildren Sadie and Clea. He was their greatest advisor, advocate, and cheerleader, and a simply incredible inspiration.

 

A favorite song of Jay’s has always been “As Time Goes By” from the film Casablanca. The lyrics remind us that the world will always welcome lovers, and that the fundamental things truly do apply as time goes by.

 

As time goes by for all of us, we hope you’ll remember the way Jay lived, loved, and never stopped looking forward to what came next over the horizon.