WE SAY GOODBYE TO RETAIL EXECUTIVE DAVID L. DWORKIN

If you knew David Dworkin then you knew he was a gentleman and a rising star on the retail scene for many years. The former president and CEO of Neiman Marcus was currently the CEO and co-founder of Swoozie's, a chain of 21 gift and stationery stores.

Dworkin, who was 63-years-old, was a vice president and general merchandise manager at Saks Fifth Avenue and held jobs at Marshall Field's, Famous Barr and Abraham & Straus.

Before Swoozie's, which he cofounded in 2001 with wife Kelly, Dworkin was the ceo of Upton's; Broadway Stores, British Home Stores and the former Bonwit Teller.

"David was really a fascinating, extremely intelligent, thoughtful man with enormous vision," said Ron Frasch, president of Saks Fifth Avenue. "He had a unique way of looking at business and evaluating customer trends and segments," Frasch said. "He never got caught up in the minutiae. At Swoozie's, he was intense with customer service and training and developing staff and sent me long e-mails about developing people and leadership and what I should be thinking about in my career. He will be sorely missed."

I had the good fortune to meet Dworkin when I was a fashion editor at the Tobe Report. What impressed me most about this intelligent and classy man was his grasp of life and work. He penned an editorial - published in the New York Times Magazine - about his misgivings about not being home to see his young girls grow up. The hard-working gent was a beautiful soul with a head and heart for the retail business.