Donald Aronow

Donald Joel Aronow (March 3, 1927 – February 3, 1987) was an American designer, builder, and racer of Formula, Donzi, Magnum Marine, Cary, and Cigarette Racing Team speedboats. Aronow built speedboats for the Shah of Iran, Charles Keating, Robert Vesco, Malcolm Forbes, George H. W. Bush, and Lyndon B. Johnson.

Early life and education Aronow was born in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn, the son of Russian–Jewish immigrants Herman and Ruth Aronow. He had two older sisters, Sylvia and Lillian. Aronow graduated as a top athlete from James Madison High School in 1944, worked as a lifeguard at Coney Island, and enrolled at Brooklyn College. Ben Kramer, winner of the 1986 American Power Boat Association Offshore Championship, pleaded no contest to manslaughter in 1996. Kramer had a business dispute with Aronow after buying Aronow's USA Racing Team, but was forced to sell it back after the Customs Service refused to do business with him. Aronow and Goldin were divorced in 1979. Aronow's second wife was Lillian Crawford. He and Crawford had two sons, Gavin and Wylie.