C’est avec une grande émotion que j’apprends le dèces de mon grand ami Don.
Nous nous sommes rencontrés à PARIS en 1989 alors qu’il cherchait un partenaire de tennis.
Il était un très bon joueur de tennis à l’époque puis il s’est tourné vers le vélo à cause de ses problèmes de santé.
Nous nous sommes revu une dizaine de fois à Paris ou à New York et nous échangions régulièrement par mail ou par SKYPE.
J’ai un souvenir ému d’assister à un de ses concerts de jazz dans un cabaret à New York en 1999.
J’appréciais particulièrement sa culture, son humour et son amour de la France et de Paris.
Nous devions nous voir à New York en Mars 2023 mais le destin en a décidé autrement.
Il m’a envoyé un mail pour me souhaiter une bonne année le 27 Décembre 2022…
Il va beaucoup me manquer

Pierrick BREHIER

It is with great emotion that I learn the death of my friend Don. We met in PARIS in 1989 when he was looking for a tennis partner. He was a very good tennis player at the time and then he turned to cycling because of his health problems. 
We saw each other again about ten times in Paris or New York and we exchanged regularly by email or SKYPE.
 I have attending one of his jazz concerts in a cabaret in New York in 1999. I particularly appreciated his culture, his humor and his love of France and Paris. 
We were supposed to meet in New York in March 2023 but fate decided otherwise. 
He sent me an email to wish me a happy new year on December 27, 2022…
 I will miss him very much
Pierrick BREHIER

Pierrick BREHIER

So sorry to learn of Don’s passing from his cousin, Amy.  He was the source of many laughs in our twenties when he partnered with Dave, Jennie and Winnie.  Sincere condolences to his family.

Like Heather, I came late to the party.  I texted Don yesterday and it said “not delivered”.

A google search led me here.

I feel really bad that I didn’t know about the funeral, because it would have been so interesting to meet the other people Don had befriended, and get everyone’s take on him.

For the most part I would meet him for coffee, to talk about the state of the world, hearing—early on—about the goings on at the WSJ; later, about the University he worked at;  and then the NYT.   I liked him for the energy and enthusiasm that he devoted to the things he did.  

We exchanged scripts occasionally.  His dialogue was always smart and funny.  His usual subject matter: a world that is usually just telegraphed in a few words and not delved into—the milieu of mid-level business people and lawyers, toiling mostly in obscurity.  His characters often had a self-aware skepticism about their jobs, but his writing never judged them, and perhaps even had a creeping admiration for them.   

The last pages he showed me were about a character who was clearly about to get into a lot of trouble, but whose consumerist, 401k-contributing, aspirational view of the world (which Don was, of course, gently mocking) might actually turn out to be the one true path, the route to salvation.  The writing had a lot of nuance, and seemed very much like Don himself: a cynical veneer that never really concealed his ceaseless optimism. 

I will definitely miss him. 


I used to hear from Don on a regular basis as we were buddies in practicing French together.  I was getting worried I hadn't heard from him in awhile and then discovered this page.  I am so, so sorry to hear this as he was such a friendly person and I really enjoyed speaking with him and spending time with him.  I'm glad I got to know him.

Heather Jensen

Don Perman, Bill Franzen, Warren Leight (1979?)

I remember how fun it was to be with Don and binge on Fawlty Towers.  He never talked much about his childhood.  He gave the impression that his life only started when when he got an apartment in Manhattan.  And he’d treat his friends there like family.

I'm sad to hear this. Don and I worked on the WSJ copy desk for years, and his knowledge was encyclopedic. He trained me how to edit market stories when I arrived--Commods, Panmkt, Crdlede. We often would hang out in the kitchen area heating our food, and he was able to discuss any topic under the sun. He will be missed. 

Don brought deep knowledge and great cheer to the Barron's newsroom.  Condolences to his family. 

I had the good fortune to meet Don at the WSJ, where he had a reputation as a scrupulous editor and a stickler for detail. He was relentless in the pursuit of accuracy and clarity. We both landed at Barron's, where Don often edited my columns on Fridays. He telephoned me with concise questions about my work, but when the business concluded we discussed 'Downton Abbey' or some other British show he was watching. I am saddened to hear of Don's passing. Condolences to his family and friends.

Don was a great friend--  fun, smart, loyal, and always up to something new.  We played a lot of music together over the years.  This recording is from the 2003 CD "Dedication" with the Bill Stevens sextet, showcasing Don on drums, on Bill's original, "Actually", and was one high point among many:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji5OPv9g3_E . 

I was so sorry to hear about Don’s passing. 
(Thank you, Carol Kelly.) In my early days at the WSJ, I sat on Don’s “pod” and was lucky enough to have a front row seat to his wit. We often talked about work and life, including his health journey. He was always quite interested in my life although his was so different. To this day, my now-adult children and I use a phrase Don would use to sum up less-than-ideal news or circumstances: “mad, bad, sad!”

He was definitely one-of-a-kind. 

thanks, everyone, for your comforting words. Don was a complete original, with such positive energy and generosity of spirit. I'll always be so grateful to have known him, and I'll never forget him. 

I met  Don from way back, in the Wesleyan days, and he was always talented, funny, and a great friend. We'd lost touch and then reconnected in the last last decade or so.  As single New Yorkers, we privately exchanged odd dating stories; It amazed both me and him how many of the women he met turned out to be therapists from the Upper West Side.  If there were ever an occasion for dark humor, online dating offers it. But he brought his trademark wit and optimism to the operation, never giving up. 
To that end, Don was a happy and upbeat person, always  busy with friends, family, cultural events, and his job at the Times that he loved.  He had an easy time talking to strangers, often asking fellow audience members what they thought of the movie/play/performance . For a time, he practically lived at MoMA. .But he also had a penchant for French.. He attended the Alliance Francaise, and made friends there. And because he was Don,  he got fluent enough to read difficult novels in French. 
I'm glad the Rabbi said that the dead never leave us. The shock of his death is still  fresh, but I certainly keep Don in my memories. I  send my utmost condolences to Amy, Deb, and the rest of the family, and 
thank you for arranging for his beautiful funeral. It felt very much like Don. May his memory be a blessing. 


So shocking to lose Don so suddenly. I send condolences to his cousins and their families. We will all miss his sweet enthusiasm, humor, intelligence, and friendship. 

Don's 2008 Off Broadway debut as a playwright: "Ex Wall Streeter, 35, Likes Cars." That was a happy occasion! I know there are more witty New York scripts, screenplays and maybe a novel to be discovered.

Hudson River Park biking, one of Don't favorite activities. 

Don and friends after seeing "Ex-Wall Streeter"

Don was a friend, colleague and fellow WSJ alum. I got to know him better when our department was relocated to South Brunswick after 9/11. The UWS denizen bought a Toyota Tercel to ease his commute and was kind enough to offer me and others a ride back to the city. Of course, Don was the first to warn us that our “word factory” would be sold. (I thought he was catastrophizing.) I also remember going to see his play about Wall Street types navigating the financial meltdown. I was impressed by the discipline it took to write and actually stage it. Don always pursued his interests — in art, theater, music, and languages. Condolences to his family. R.I.P.


Don was a friend, colleague and a man of many talents: writer, editor, musician, tennis player, humorist and so much more. His quick wit and keen perspective will be sorely missed. My deepest condolences.

This is a shock to hear. He was an important part of the WSJ copy editing team for so many years, and his (sometimes dark) humor was a mainstay. I will miss him.

     My deep condolences to the Perman family. 
    Don was a good friend, neighbor and colleague, always ready with an invitation to a coffee, a jazz set, or a play—even one that he wrote. And you never knew where he’d pop up, like in the credits, as a drummer, for a piece you just heard on WBGO. 
     I’ll always be grateful for his help in ending my long and ridiculous search for a place to buy in the city, when he introduced me to an agent-friend. 
     It was an experience working with him on the editing desk at The Wall Street Journal—on the line in the paragraph factory, as he called it. He was always fun and funny. 
       I’ll miss him. 

Don was such a nice, thoughtful man. I enjoyed "jamming" with him; he was always supportive of all his musician friends. He will be missed, but the music he added to the world will always be there. 

Don's death is such a loss to all who knew him. He was a faithful friend, staying in touch with hundreds of people from many past lives, and a cheerleader for everyone he knew. He was impressively positive despite his health challenges. Best of all, he loved the life he created for himself and the never-ending comedy of human existence, politics and NYC. 

Celebrating Don's 50th with NYC friends. I was looking forward to his 70th birthday in just a few weeks. 

So sad to have had to attend the funeral today of such a beloved, kind soul.  I wish we had had more time to share in this lifetime, but I'm grateful to have had him as a cousin.  I'll always remember his kind welcome to me when I moved to New York many years ago.   This is a reminder for us all not waste those moments and to make the time for each other.

Don and I were friends with each other starting in 1985 at Business Week. We were hired by The Wall Street Journal on the same day, August 20, 1986, the end of a hiring freeze. We worked together on the Journal copy desk for many years, including 7 years together in South Brunswick, a legendary experience. Don was a humorist and eventually a satirist. “Got your game face on, Mike?” he would ask when I came to work. “That’s me, Donny,” I would say. He referred to our careers as "working in the word sector" and liked to say, "No one will pay you to read Herman Broch, Mike. They pay you to read this stuff." Don was critical of almost everything--and it often was illuminating. He was a real character. No one was like him.

So sorry to hear this news.  I had the pleasure of getting to know Don at the WSJ, but I always appreciated his acerbic wit and interests outside of journalism. He was a savvy music lover, and we often swapped stories or videos about jazz that I'll always fondly remember. He once tested my music knowledge by simply saying 'ii, v, i' to see if I knew a famous jazz chord sequences. I'll miss him.  

I worked with Don for a long time at the WSJ. He loved cracking jokes. Around 2002, when we were working down in South Brunswick office in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, we had a company softball game as a social mixer. Clumsy me, I broke my right ankle during the game and I couldn't drive home. Don offered to drive me back home to Hoboken in my car, and he intoned--multiple times-- "I'm a very good driver," imitating Dustin Hoffman from the old movie "Rain Man." I guess you had to be there, but it made me laugh, even though my ankle hurt like hell.
RIP, Don.

Very sad news. Don sat across from me for a time at The Wall Street Journal and was always fascinating and engaging. Truly a loss.

My deepest condolences. Don was wonderful person and colleague. He will be deeply missed.

I worked with Don at the New York Times. I'd only known him a few months, but I was struck by the way he'd remember something unique about each co-worker (their hobbies, or where they were from) and would make a point to start conversations tailored to those interests. It won't be the same here without him. 

OBITUARY

Donald Perman

January 26, 1953 – December 30, 2022

Riverside Memorial Chapel

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