Bob Palmer, owner of Palmer Vineyards, dies at 74

Robert J. Prignano, who under the name Bob Palmer blended a successful half-century in the advertising business with a passion for marketing Long Island wines, died Friday of a blood infection. He was 74.

Palmer, of Huntington, launched Palmer Vineyards in Aquebogue in 1983, putting to work a long ad-agency resume and thick Rolodex to make Palmer's one of the most widely known Long Island wines. It has been carried on American Airlines jets and is served in restaurants from Walt Disney World to California. It's also the house wine at Gallagher's Steak House in Manhattan, where Palmer was a lunchtime regular with his own booth and an easy rapport with staff and customers.

"Bob walked in and it was like Norm walking into Cheers," recalled Jim Waters, owner of Waters Crest Winery in Cutchogue.

Palmer's wife, Lorraine, with whom he last September celebrated 50 years of marriage, remembered her husband as a man who stuck by his many friends, who loved to travel and who was an eternal optimist.

His vineyard was among the hardest hit by eight days of hard rain in 2005, wiping out nearly the entire crop of Palmer's prized merlot grapes. "He always looked on the bright side," Lorraine said. "He said, 'It'll dry up and we'll be back to normal again.'" The family will continue to own and operate the winery, she said.

David Mudd, who as an owner of Mudd Vineyards helped Bob Palmer establish his vineyard in the early 1980s, described his longtime friend as a "man's man."

"He stood up for what he said, and once he did, you could take it to the bank," Mudd said.

Like many others, Mudd recalled Palmer wasn't much of a wine drinker. Once, the two friends met up for a wine council meeting, but as noon approached, Palmer suggested lunch. At the restaurant, Mudd recalled, "Palmer says, 'Enough of this sissy stuff [wine]. I've got to have a real drink.' That was a double martini."

Palmer's work on the Long Island Wine Council, where he was a past president, lifted the collective fortunes of the entire region. Alan Wax, a former Newsday wine writer and onetime publicist for Palmer at WaxWords in Melville, said Palmer was the first owner to recognize the importance of making the winery a destination. "He was a firm believer that tourism would make wineries viable," Wax said, pointing to concerts, hayrides, even yard sales put on by Palmer.

Robert J. Prignano, an only child born to Italian-American parents in Forest Hills, attended schools in Queens Village, then Chaminade High School in Mineola before taking his first job in the advertising field at age 14, he said in a 1993 Newsday interview. He did not attend college.

He worked at the Cunningham & Walsh agency in Manhattan, then another called Kelley Mason, which he ran and then sold in 1978 before starting the RJ Palmer agency, a media services company from which he attempted several retirements. His wife said he changed his name because it was hard to spell.

Palmer's daughter Lori Hendricks of Nesconset recalled her father as "such a good man." "He was our rock. We had nothing but good times."

He also had a sense of humor. His son-in-law Dennis Hendricksrecalled a serious moment when he asked his future father-in-law for his daughter's hand. "His advice to me when I asked to marry Lori was, 'As soon as you wake up in the morning, every morning, tell her you're sorry.' I said, 'For what?' He said, '"For anything I'm going to do today," and you'll be covered.'" Dennis Hendricks will take over Palmer wine sales.

In addition to his wife Lorraine and daughter Lori, Palmer is survived by daughter Kathy LeMorzellec and her husband Michael LeMorzellec of Coram, another daughter, Barbara Prignano-D'Acunto and her husband James D'Acunto, of East Islip; and three grandsons.

Visiting is today from 2 to 5 p.m., and 7 to 9 p.m., at Brueggemann Funeral Home, 522 Larkfield Rd., East Northport. A funeral Mass will be offered tomorrow at 11 a.m. at St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church in Greenlawn. A private cremation will follow. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be sent to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.