Nick Beilenson

Nick Beilenson, Civil Rights activist, book publisher, and lifetime resident of Westchester, died Tuesday, February 22. The cause was complications from COVID.

Born and raised in Mount Vernon, Nick attended AB Davis High School and Andover Academy, before earning a BA and a JD from Harvard University.  He married Evelyn Loeb of New York City in 1959.  Together they raised three children in Yonkers, New Rochelle, and White Plains.

Nick began his career as a corporate lawyer in New York City.  Inspired by the TV images of the Civil Rights movement in the South, he set aside his legal practice in 1968 and founded Westchester Residential Opportunities (WRO), a nonprofit initially focused on pressuring enforcement of the federal Fair Housing Act and integrating Westchester County neighborhoods.  More than 50 years later, WRO continues to promote equal, affordable, and accessible housing opportunities for all residents in our area.

In the early 1970s, Nick stepped away from WRO (though he served as Chair of the Board for most of his life) and formed Hecker, Sheer and Beilenson, a law firm in White Plains. In 1978, he won the Democratic primary in the race for the Mayor of White Plains, losing in the general election.

In 1981 he took over the family publishing business, Peter Pauper Press, founded by his parents Peter and Edna Beilenson in Fleetwood in 1929.  Partnering with Evelyn and ultimately his son, Laurence, he helped transform the struggling small book publishing company into a thriving enterprise.

In retirement, he founded the Center for Public Interest Careers at Harvard College (CPIC), which creates internship and job opportunities for Harvard students in nonprofit organizations around the country.  For his lifetime commitment to the public good, Nick received the White Plains Human Rights Commission Award in 2014 and the “Outstanding Supporter of Public Service” award from Harvard in 2015.

A competitive racket athlete throughout his life, Nick was the 70+ US National Hardball Squash champion in 2008.  He was also an avid birder and hiker, summiting all 48 4,000-footers in New Hampshire’s White Mountains during his lifetime. With Evelyn, he travelled extensively to six continents and to most of the islands of the Caribbean.

Nick is survived by his children, John (Wanda), Laurence (Esther), and Suzanne (Robert), and his grandchildren, Sarah, Hannah, Jacob, Jane, Tom, and Carly. He was recently pre-deceased in October of last year by Evelyn, after 62 years of marriage.