Clifford A Blackman

Clifford Abraham Blackman - known to his friends and family as Cliff - was born on July 4, 1949 in Brooklyn, New York to Dr. Lionel and Miriam (née Roder) Blackman. He grew up in Roslyn, New York alongside siblings Jerome, Daniel and Carol with fond memories of the Good Humor ice cream truck, doing ham radio, and playing in rock ’n’ roll bands. He attended Sands Point Academy, then Hofstra University in New York for his Bachelor’s (1971) and Master’s in Fine Arts (1974). He moved to San Francisco in 1974 to attend the San Francisco Law School, and he received his juris doctorate in 1976. While he had originally hoped to apply his degree to a career in the music industry, he pivoted and established a solo practice for Personal Injury and Civil Litigation in Burlingame, California from 1976-2013. He ran the practice with his trademark compassion and nobility, standing up for the little guy and changing the lives of those in need. In 1996, he founded the Bay Area Lawyers Network, a continuing education organization for lawyers.

He raised his family with his second wife Annette Blackman from 1982-2005 in San Mateo, California. Later in life, his love of wine and tennis drew him to California’s wine country, where he spent over a decade as a resident of St Helena, California with his third wife Cynthia Blackman until she passed away in 2011. In 2014, he moved to Pompano Beach, Florida to be near his beloved mother. He spent his later years enjoying his view of the Intercoastal from his balcony with his late partner Veronica Grosz, doing ham radio at the Radio Club, playing music, and traveling to visit his children and grandchildren.

A lawyer by trade, but an artist at heart. Cliff was a man of reason with a big heart and a passion for arts - a musician, a painter, a lover of museums - but also a master diver, an avid skier, and a history buff. His lifelong love of music never ceased - performance, appreciation, composition - and his talent was innate (he could play the guitar, bass, piano, and nearly all wind instruments). Cliff loved his family, being in the ocean, good food, live music, and Hawaii. He will be dearly missed by all.

He passed in Boca Raton, Florida on April 19, 2025 due to complications after a hemorrhagic stroke. He is survived by his children Brittany and Joshua, their spouses Michael and Alexandra, his grandchildren Laila and Marigold, and his siblings Jerome and Carol.