WordHampton PR founder Steve Haweeli dies at 68

Steve Haweeli, the charismatic Hamptons-based public relations executive who created the Long Island and East End restaurant weeks, died Tuesday. He was 68.

Haweeli ran WordHampton PR in East Hampton for 30 years, focusing primarily on restaurants. The Springs resident loved to fish and cook using produce from the East End, frequently attended jazz performances, and traveled to more than 30 countries, said Nicole Castillo, WordHampton executive vice president and Haweeli’s business partner for the past 25 years.

Though Haweeli had battled lymphoma in the past, there were no signs of the illness at his death; the cause was complications of the coronavirus, said Castillo, who will take over as WordHampton owner.

Haweeli took up oil and acrylic painting in his 50s, often with East End environmental themes, and participated in shows and exhibitions. He was a lifelong Yankees fan, affectionately referring to them as “The Stankees” when they were on a losing streak.

“He was full of life,” said Joe Realmuto, chef and partner of The Honest Man Restaurant Group, which owns Nick & Toni’s and four other East End restaurants. “He was a big personality.”

WordHampton had T-shirts made this year for the company’s 30th anniversary with Haweeli’s longtime motto on the back: “PR with no BS,” said Castillo.  Another favorite motto of Haweeli’s was “Work hard, laugh hard,” she said.

Haweeli was born in 1954, graduated from Hamilton College in upstate Clinton in 1976,  and started WordHampton PR in 1992 while he was working as a bartender at Nick & Toni’s in East Hampton. “He would go door to door to get clients. He built that business literally with his own hands, from the ground up,” said Haweeli’s only child, Ned, 28, a professional drummer who lives in Woodstock. “He was so proud and could not believe the success his business had.”

Haweeli was consistently ahead of the curve, urging restaurants to create Facebook pages in 2008, creating restaurant weeks (during which restaurants offer multicourse, prix-fixe meals at reduced prices to entice new customers during the off season) and encouraging restaurants to expand to-go and delivery services even before the pandemic.

In addition to The Honest Man Restaurant Group, WordHampton clients include Ben’s Kosher Deli, Lessing’s Hospitality Group and East End Tick Control. Haweeli eventually created two further divisions of his company — Long Island Restaurant & Hospitality Group to manage the restaurant weeks, and Metro Restaurant Marketing to serve restaurants in New York City’s five boroughs.

Haweeli served as president of the East Hampton Chamber of Commerce, hosted an LTV show called “FoodTALK,” which was produced by Haweeli’s former wife, Ellen Watson, and launched the Long Island Restaurant News website. He received the Public Relations Society of America’s Big Apple award and a Public Relations Professionals of Long Island lifetime achievement award. 

Haweeli was a wonderful, loving father, Ned said. “He put the music bug in me,” he said, introducing him to Miles Davis and James Brown. “I wouldn’t be the musician or the man I am today if it wasn’t for him.”

In an interview with The Independent in East Hampton in 2018, Haweeli described his life outside the office. “I spend a good hour every morning reading, journaling, praying, and occasionally meditating. I also write out a gratitude list of five things I'm grateful for every day,” Haweeli said then. “Every weekend, I'm at the ocean. I am enthralled by water — its taste, feel, expanse and color — anchored by God, the sheer depth of God. I am grateful to be alive in this world, but angry that I will have to leave it one day.”

In addition to his son, Haweeli is survived by cousins Ellen Haweeli, of Old Greenwich, Connecticut, and John Haweeli, of Manhattan. Donations in Haweeli’s memory can be made to The Springs Food Pantry, springsfoodpantry.com. Funeral arrangements are pending.

By Beth Whitehouse

beth.whitehouse@newsday.comBethWhitehouse1

Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.