The Passing of Philadelphia's Ruth Hirshey Lincoln, Longtime Popular Public Relations Wizard

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.”

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.”

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.