Frederick A. (Fritz) Jacobi, a longtime summer resident of Martha’s Vineyard, died peacefully while taking a walk near his home with a companion on April 1. He was 96 and lived in New York City.

Fritz and his wife Emilie (Jacobsen) Jacobi were annual visitors to the Vineyard, spending many weeks each summer at their home at Windy Gates in Chilmark. Fritz first came to the Vineyard in 1934 to visit his aunt and uncle, Dorothea and Edward (later General) Greenbaum, who had a home in Menemsha.

Born in New York city on Sept. 14, 1921, he was the son of two musicians: his mother, Irene (sister of Dorothea Greenbaum), was a professional pianist and his father, Frederick, a distinguished American composer who taught composition at the Juilliard School in New York. In the 1920s the family, which then included Fritz’s sister Dorothea, moved to Northampton, where both parents were informally affiliated with the Smith College music faculty. Fritz attended Eaglebrook School and Deerfield Academy before entering Harvard College in 1939. He joined the U.S. Army Air Force in 1942, serving with the 445th Bomb Group in the 8th Air Force as a combat intelligence officer in England. He was discharged as a captain in 1945. He returned to Harvard to complete his degree in American history and literature and graduated cum laude in 1946.

He subsequently joined Random House as assistant editor and later the NBC publicity department, where he worked with Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca on Your Show of Shows. He served as director of public relations for several organizations, including the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, the National Education Association, and the Museum of Broadcasting. He was also director of Composers’ Recordings at The New Yorker magazine, and wrote fiction and non-fiction articles and several non-bylined pieces for The New Yorker between 1949 and 1960. After retiring from Columbia he served as editor of Television Quarterly, the journal of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, until it folded in 2008.

Fritz was a steady supporter of many worthwhile causes, especially those involving the arts and arts education. He was a longtime supporter of Young Audiences New York, serving as an active board member and board president in the 1970s. His mother, Irene, was one of the founders of Young Audiences New York. Much of his career as a writer, editor, and public relations director focused on arts and education organizations. He also gave generously of his time and talents to serving on boards of organizations that helped strengthen the cultural and community connections in New York.

He was predeceased by his first wife Jeanne (Shubb) Jacobi and his second wife Emilie (Jacobsen) Jacobi, by his sister Dorothea (Jacobi) Gray, and by his cousin Daniel Greenbaum of Chilmark. He is survived by his children: Ruth Swedlow, her husband Dr. David Swedlow of Danville, Calif., their two sons and six grandchildren; Susi Mulligan and her husband Mel Anderson of Lincolnshire, England; and Frederick M. (Michael) Jacobi and his wife Donna Moriarty of Ossining, N.Y., their three children and a grandchild; nephews Michael Gray, Stephen Gray, and Daniel Gray; niece Deborah Gray, and five grand-nieces and –nephews.

A memorial service is planned for later in the year.