"Dick was an American original, a colossus bestriding the worlds of business, media, culture, philanthropy, and beyond," mourned his friend Ronald Lauder.
"Our city and nation benefited greatly from his graceful leadership, private and public."
As a philanthropist, he chaired the board of the Jazz Foundation of America and the Apollo Theater Foundation and co-chaired the advisory board of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Parsons also joined his friend Lauder in the effort to keep the race-blind admissions test for New York City's elite public high schools and in funding ways to increase the number of black and Hispanic students who gain admission.
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