Jerry Della Femina came into the advertising business in 1961 as a junior copywriter.  It was in 1967, after a brief sojourn at one of the largest of the conservative old-line agencies, Ted Bates, that he co-founded Della Femina Travisano & Partners.  He worked on such accounts as Isuzu (Joe Isuzu), Meow Mix (Singing Cat), Beck's Beer, Blue Nun Wine, Chemical Bank, Dow Brands (Fingerman) and Pan Am.
 
Jerry sold his agency in 1986 and left it in June of 1992.  During his six-month sabbatical from the advertising industry, he opened two hugely successful restaurants and a popular food market in East Hampton, New York.
 
Promising to put the fun back in the business, Jerry opened a new agency, Jerry, Inc., in December 1992, with the announcement that he had been awarded the Newsweek account.  In the first year, the agency added Marvel Comics, The New York Mets and Financial Security Assurance, among others, to its roster of clients.  In May 1994, Jerry, Inc. merged with the New York office of Ketchum Advertising, forming Jerry & Ketchum.  The alliance with Ketchum brought on board such clients as Coty and American Express Travel Trade.
 
Since the merger, Della Femina/Jeary and Partners has added as accounts the Union Camp Corporation, North Shore University Hospital, Chinet Paper Plates, Warnaco (Warner's Intimate Apparel), Aerogroup International (Aerosoles Footwear) and the Newspaper Association of America.
 
Jerry serves on the boards of WNYC-TV, The Children's Aid Society, Citymeals-on-Wheels and an industry-wide initiative called Ads Against AIDS.  In recognition of his accomplishments in the industry, Jerry was honored as the Czar of Madison Avenue by Smirnoff Vodka, and has recently been cited A Creative Leader Since 1980 by The Wall Street Journal.
 
In addition to his legendary copywriting achievements, Jerry has written two books: From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor, which was a best-seller, and An Italian Grows in Brooklyn (which was a no-seller).  Now, following the lead of his hero, Jimmy Breslin, Jerry Della Femina writes an award-winning weekly humor column for the East Hampton Independent.
 
Jerry, who was born in Brooklyn, graduated from Lafayette High School and attended Brooklyn College.  He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Missouri in 1983 and from Long Island University in 1989.  He's married to Judy Licht, a television news reporter; they have two young children, a daughter Jessie, and a son James.  He has three grown children by a previous marriage, Donna, Michael and Jodi.  The Della Feminas reside in New York City, East Hampton and Palm Beach.