Now a favored tradition, the Boston Pops July Fourth concert and fireworks show had actually dwindled in popularity throughout the mid-1900s. Then Mugar weighed in. He died this week at 82.
David Mugar, founder and executive director of the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, smiles while sitting in a golf cart on June 29, 2016, along the Charles River Esplanade in Boston.
“He was a Bostonian through and through, continually finding ways to give back to the community he loved," the family said. “He was humble and generous. Quietly doing good for others and always leading with his heart. The many gifts he gave to civic and cultural organizations across the city and the state were most often given in recognition and honor of his parents, our grandparents."
The music choice was controversial at first, as some thought it inappropriate to play a piece by a Russian composer at the height of the Cold War, but the show's popularity soared and today it draws about 500,000 people, many of whom line up for hours, blankets at the ready, to get a prime space on the lawn. The “1812 Overture" remains a staple.
The holiday concert was not the only huge event he organized. Mugar was also one of the founders of Boston’s First Night in 1976, and in 1979, was one of three people appointed by then-Mayor Kevin White to oversee the visit of Pope John Paul II to the city, which drew 400,000 people to a Mass on Boston Common.David G. Mugar was born in Cambridge, the son of Stephen Mugar, founder of the Star Market supermarket chain, and raised in Watertown and Belmont.