Paul Kolton, Leader of Major Exchange, Dies at 87

He ended up outliving the stock exchange whose independence he had defended. The Amex was acquired by NYSE Euronext in 2008.
Mr. Kolton was born Paul Komisaruk on June 1, 1923, in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. He served as a sergeant in the Army in World War II and later graduated from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Returning to New York City, he wrote mystery stories for magazines and changed his last name to Kolton because, his daughter said, he liked it as a pen name. He joined the public relations staff at the New York Stock Exchange in 1955 and rose to vice president. He left in 1962 to become executive vice president at the Amex, the stock exchange’s No. 2 position.