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Larry Lederman died at 67 years old on Tuesday, Mar. 5, the U.S. Trotting Association (USTA) announced in a news release. The East Windsor resident was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in 2011.
The native New Yorker was introduced to harness racing by his father, a Manhattan business owner who enjoyed going to the Yonkers and Roosevelt raceways. Lederman started his professional career in 1977 when he began working at the Daily Racing Form.
Lederman got his first full-time announcing job at Atlantic City Race Course in 1987 and added a gig at Garden State Park in Cherry Hill to his resume in 1989. He then became the announcer of Freehold Raceway in 1998.
Lederman mixed wordplay and impressions into his race calls. That helped him land network and cable television opportunities.
Larry Collmus, a horse racing announcer known as NBC's voice of the Kentucky Derby, called Lederman a great guy and a friend.
"He was the voice of Atlantic City for years and an absolute character who, no matter what, made you laugh," Collmus said on FanDuel TV.
Lederman's comedic talents were developed away from the track. While working as a cab driver before his announcing career began, Lederman was a standup comedian who once appeared on the same lineup as Robin Williams.
Lederman was also included in Robert DeNiro’s 1993 film “A Bronx Tale”. His voice is heard calling a race at the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, NY.
After his cancer diagnosis, Lederman reduced his work but still made occasional guest race-calling appearances at several tracks and remained positive.
"You’ve got to fight the fight; you don’t give up," Lederman said to the USTA in 2018. "I’ve always said it’s better to have 16 in a blackjack game than 22 because once you’re out of the game, that’s it. You’ve got to stay in it.
"I never felt sorry for myself, ever. You could say this is no way to live, but you accept it and say let me look at what I do have instead of what I don’t have. It can really beat you down and get very depressing, but you can’t let it happen."
Lederman received the Good Guy Award from the U.S. Harness Writers Association in 2011.
Private services were planned for Lederman.
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