Roy Eaton, a child piano prodigy who broke the color barrier in 1955 to become the first African-American to work at a major advertising firm on New York City’s Madison Avenue, will present the 11th annual Estelle Feinstein Memorial Lecture on Monday at the UConn Stamford campus.
Eaton is on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music. Despite a childhood hand injury, he won his first piano competition at age 7, earning him an appearance at Carnegie Hall in 1937. He was the first winner of the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Award in 1950. He has a best-selling Scott Joplin CD with Sony Classical.
After military service, Eaton was hired as a composer and copy writer for Young & Rubicam, and later Benton and Bowles. His jingles for Beefaroni, Yuban, Gulf Oil, Kent cigarettes and others led to his induction into the Advertising Hall of Fame in 2010.
Eaton will speak about his life as “the Jackie Robinson of advertising” and his attitudes toward life and coping with profound challenges. His lecture will be followed by a question-and-answer session. Still a master pianist, Eaton will conclude the presentation with piano selections from his repertoire that includes Chopin and Scott Joplin.
The lecture is scheduled for 5 p.m. in Room A1 (Gen Re Auditorium).
