Ruth Hirshey Lincoln, longtime popular public relations wizard, has died at 68

Ruth Hirshey Lincoln, 68, of Philadelphia, an imaginative and effervescent public relations wizard who founded her own consulting firm and worked wonders as the longtime face of the Philadelphia Four Seasons Hotel and do-it-all promotions director at Philadelphia Magazine, died Wednesday, Nov. 23, of an aortic dissection at Lankenau Hospital.

Creative, energetic, and uniquely adept at keeping her clients and employers in the public eye, Ms. Hirshey Lincoln spent 18 years as the director of public relations at the Four Seasons and seven years as editorial production manager and then promotions director at Philadelphia Magazine.

In 2007, she founded Hirshey and Co. Communications and, while continuing to work with the Four Seasons, expanded her clientele to include the Woodmere Art Museum, the Jewish Community Legacy Project, and other organizations connected to hospitality, culture, real estate, technology, and the law.

“I was consistently in awe of how much she accomplished to help people like me do our jobs,” a journalist wrote on Ms. Hirshey Lincoln’s LinkedIn page. A fellow public relations and hospitality executive said: “Ruth’s creativity and ability to add value and an element of excitement to the guest experience is unparalleled.”

Ms. Hirshey Lincoln organized elegant dinners, memorable holiday events, and other notable activities in her nearly two decades at the Four Seasons. She also managed publicity surrounding the visits of countless actors, politicians, musicians, athletes, writers, and other celebrities.

Sophisticated with her clients and as accommodating as possible to the public, she knew she sometimes had to skirt the truth when it came to confirming who had recently checked in. “We don’t talk about guests, which is why they come here,” she told The Inquirer in 1992. However, she did say: “I’ve been kissed by [Sylvester] Stallone, Jimmy Carter, and John Kenneth Galbraith.”

When Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones stayed at the Four Seasons in 1989, Ms. Hirshey Lincoln got pinched between protecting their privacy and conceding to reporters and assembled fans that, just maybe, something was indeed going on. As people pressed her with questions, she told The Inquirer in 2008, “I had to say, ‘Mick who?’ Meanwhile, they could see him walking through the lobby behind me.”

In 1990, Ms. Hirshey Lincoln talked fitness guru and guest Richards Simmons into joining the hotel’s housekeeping staff at the morning stretching session. “You should have seen the faces of the businessmen in the lobby when he came walking through in his little shorts and tank top,” she told The Inquirer. “He really motivated the staff. It meant so much to these people. They’re still bubbling about it.”

At Philadelphia Magazine, Ms. Hirshey Lincoln coordinated many of its editorial projects, promotional campaigns, and public events, including its popular and glitzy Best of Philadelphia parties. The Daily News called her the magazine’s “communications czarina” in 1988.

Born Jan. 4, 1954, in Philadelphia, Ruth Arlene Hirshey grew up in East Mount Airy and graduated from Philadelphia High School for Girls. She earned a bachelor’s degree in theater and communications at Temple University and worked at first as a production manager for the publisher J.B. Lippincott.

She married Joseph Lincoln in 1994, and they lived in Center City and Penn Valley, and had twins Samantha and David. She also welcomed her husband’s two daughters and their four children into her life, and she was so popular, her husband joked, that he was frequently addressed as Mr. Hirshey.

“She could connect with people,” her husband said. “She listened to people.”

Away from her day jobs, Ms. Hirshey Lincoln was active with foundations and charities, a board member at the Please Touch Museum, and a supporter of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Pennsylvania Ballet, now the Philadelphia Ballet. She was so popular around town that she and her family were often greeted by friends and admirers on the street, an occurrence her family came to call a “Hi Ruth.”

“No matter where she went,” said her son, David, “she always seemed to have a relationship with someone, a friend to call on.”

Ms. Hirshey Lincoln enjoyed the theater, liked to travel, especially to Paris, and described herself as “an amateur expert in perfume” in a 1985 book review for The Inquirer. She hiked local trails with friends, watched old movies as often as possible, and talked with her sister, Linda, nearly every day.

She loved to cook and share recipes, knitted scarves, sweaters, mittens, hats, and other items for those close to her, and sent dozens of beautiful handmade greeting cards to family and friends. “She had a unique ability to create,” said her daughter Samantha. “She put her heart into everything.”

A colleague said in an online tribute: “She was the consummate professional and among the most talented and wonderful people to work with. A beautiful soul.” Her husband said: “She was the love of my life.”

In addition to her husband, children, and sister, Ms. Hirshey Lincoln is survived by other relatives. A brother died earlier.

Services were Nov. 28.