By Bob Martin (originally published in the Montgomery Independent)
I only knew Knight Berman for a couple of years. That was not long enough. A couple of years ago Rod Frazer made up his
mind he was going to get Knight back in shape and so ordered him to begin showing up for workouts at Rod's gym, a place
where several of us were attempting to stave off the aging process. Knight obliged and that's how he and I got acquainted.
He was an intelligent, engaging and funny guy.
One day, I'm guesssing to be about eight months ago, Knight thought he had kidney stones. They did an MRI and found a spot
on his lung. The prognosis was not good, but Knight kept his game face on until the end. He was that kind of person. I
asked Rod, who was his longtime friend to write his thoughts about Knight. Here they are:
Berman was a charmer from boyhood. He always had those pale blue eyes and an engaging manner. He got the eyes from his mother,
one of Montgomery's most beautiful in her time. The charm and a sound business sense came from Izzy, his father, the named
partner of I. Berman & Company.
He was one of Tuscaloosa's best dressed in his first and only year at The University of Alabama. Taking frat life by storm,
he was the envy of all of the men and many of the women until the administration checked his grades.
Volunteering for the Marines, he did well at boot camp. Gaming the system, he got a job as a Remington Raider, a company
clerk armed with a Remington typewriter.
Physically fit and as handsome as a man could be, he came home to begin a career as an insurance executive. His father's
company was well known, one of the best in town. A quick learner, Knight was exposed to all manner of complicated sales
and underwriting, including the property and casualty risks of a Las Vegas casino. His engaging manner helped to make him
one of the top insurance producers in these parts.
Eventually becoming the sole owner of the family business, it expanded to include a book of business throughout the southeast.
He eventually sold it to Willis Caroon, a global company and one of the best in the industry. His last association in the
business was with The Stark Agency, also a blue chipper. He worked until the cancer brought him down.
One of the disappointments of life was failing to get elected to the City Council in the crowded-field first race of the
Mayor-Council form of government. He was successful in helping Fob James to get elected Governor. But, Knight Berman was
not really a politician. He was more of a Boulevardier, a man about town, a club man more devoted to his poker club than
any. Everybody knew him. Most admired him in one way or another. He never spoke ill of anybody.
Knight was a traditionilist, a bridge between generations. Interested in the social goings and comings of our city and its
night life, he wanted everybody to look as good as they could and to have as much fun as possible.
He was loved by many and will be missed by all.
