Tony Capato, who specialized in building computer systems for the list industry, died on Sunday night of leukemia. He was 65.
Capato had most recently been with Specialists, which he joined in 1988 and left in early 2002. His accomplishments there included revamping its data entry system, and co-founding Computer Marketing Systems Inc., an in-house service bureau for ClientLogic, which later acquired Specialists.
He started his career in direct mail with the Lake Group, which he left to found Intercomp, a database and list-fulfillment company. In 1979 he began a 10-year association with Uni-Mail Lists, first as a consultant and then as an employee
Industry veterans remembered Capato both as an intellectual and a mensch.
“He was a terrific guy, a guy who loved life in a way I’ve never seen a human being love it,” said Bob Castle, who worked with Capato at Uni-Mail. “He was incredibly fond of ideas. He had a degree in chemistry, but he switched to computers because he thought they were more idea oriented.”
“He was a sweetie, and he was very smart,” said Linda Huntoon, executive vice president of Direct Media Inc. “He was the youngest 65 you ever met. At ClientLogic, I opened a satellite office, and I worked closely with him to determine what type of computer system would be best. He understood before I did what I needed and how to make it work.”
Capato was known for cutting through fuzzy thinking. “When someone would go to Tony and tell him to what they needed in a program design, he would put his right hand behind his head and touch his left ear,” said Lon Mandel, marketing services officer for ClientLogic’s Specialists Marketing Services.
Mandel continued: “He would then say, ‘You are going about it like this.’ Meaning that you were not getting to the solution directly. That was his way of teaching and mentoring.”
His curiosity and intellect were not limited to the list industry. Late in life he took up model railroading, and within three-and-a-half years became a Master Model Railroader, as designated by the National Model Railroad Association.
Before the Internet was widespread, Capato championed an electronic data interchange, which would have beamed list information, such as data cards and orders, up to a satellite. The information would have been retrievable by anyone within the industry who was linked into the system, thereby saving a tremendous amount of paper. This scheme was never realized.
Capato is survived by his wife, Vera Perisi and children David and Donna.
