Neil Charles Reshen, an accountant and business manager who represented such entertainers as Willie Nelson and Miles Davis before founding the publishing management firm Benay Enterprises, died December 6 in the Bronx of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 75.
A pioneer in business management in the music industry, Reshen acted as a personal manager, negotiating contracts and doing the income taxes of major musicians and singers. Beginning in the 1970s, Reshen began negotiating record deals and managing the financial affairs for the country singer Waylon Jennings. By all accounts he was a relentless and fearless negotiator and quickly accumulated a star-studded list of clients that included Davis, Nelson, Frank Zappa, Linda Ronstadt, Alice Cooper, the Mothers of Invention, and the Velvet Underground, among others. In addition, he also managed the affairs of such artists and authors as Roger Kahn, Peter Golenbock, Peter Max, and Andy Warhol.
In 1986, Reshen decided it was time for a change and left the music business for publishing. He founded Benay Enterprises, a personal and business management firm specializing in handling the back office operations of independent book publishers. Benay handles accounting, contract negotiations, foreign right sales, royalty payments, payrolls and related operations for a variety of small publishers.
Among Benays client publishers are Steerforth Press, Akashic Books, The Overlook Press and Soho Press. In addition, Benay owns and operates For Beginners, a successful line of illustrated nonfiction titles originally published by the late Glenn Thompson’s Writers & Readers house, now spun off into a standalone publishing operation.
Reshen is survived by his daughter and business partner Dawn Reshen-Doty, who is president of Benay Enterprises and founder and publisher of For Beginners. In addition he is also survived by a grandson, another daughter and two brothers. His two marriages ended in divorce.
A memorial service will be held on January 7, 2015 at the Plaza Jewish Community Chapel, 603 Amsterdam Avenue, in New York City, at 3 p.m.
