| Doug Levy, an early member of Gold Coast Mac who went on to build his user group experience into a position with Miami's most well known software developer, died Thursday, January 18th, 2001 after a 10 month battle with lung cancer. He was 54 years old.
Levy had just joined Gold Coast Mac in 1986 when members of the board took note of his enthusiasm and willingness to work on group projects. He was asked to run for the Board of Directors in 1987, winning a position on President Dave Game's first board. Levy served two terms, working with Game on implementing the GCMac bylaws still in use today, and on other projects.
While still a board member, Levy took a freelance assignment with Miami software developer Deneba, then a fledgling company, to re-write the manual for the company's Canvas 2 software. He officially joined the company in 1988, dividing his time between Deneba and Eastern Airlines, where he had been a pilot on international routes for many years. After Eastern's debilitating strike caused the airline to succumb to bankruptcy, Levy gave up his pilot's license, and devoted his full efforts to Deneba, attaining the position of Vice President of Corporate Communications, with the responsibility of coordinating Deneba's trade show appearances and it's appearances in the media.
In 1995, Levy was named Product Manager for DenebaCAD, the company's new high end design software. The software came to market for the Macintosh in 1997, and for Windows in 1998. Levy made his most recent appearance at a Gold Coast Mac meeting in early 1999, where he helped promote DenebaCAD and Deneba's newest version of Canvas, at the time version 6.0.
Levy had experienced health problems in recent years, including a heart attack which caused him to slow down a bit. Friends say he first noticed breathing problems in May 2000, which led to the discovery of cancer and the removal of a lung. Ever optimistic, Levy believed his treatment was beating the disease, until a follow-up examination in late summer discovered cancer in his remaining lung. Despite continuing therapy, he was forced to enter the hospital with the new year, and died January 18th, ironically on the ten year anniversary of the shut-down of Eastern Airlines, the company of his first career.
Levy, who lived in Fort Lauderdale, is survived by longtime companion Robert Lightfoot. There has been no word about funeral services, but condolences can be sent to:
The Levy Family
P.O. Box 120746
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33312
January 2001
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