Michael Shulman, ad man with a gentle touch; at 90

“It was an era where he could use his creativity,’’ recalled his daughter Lee Bierer of Charlotte, N.C., who worked alongside her father in the 1970s and ’80s. “Every holiday became an opportunity for a promotion, which meant Santa and the Easter Bunny arriving by helicopter, or pop musicians entertaining the crowds . . . lots of activity to bring people to the shopping center.’’

Among his more memorable events were Burlington Marriott workers racing around the hotel parking lot in beds for Easter Seals; 32 Boston couples, all married more than 50 years, being the guests of honor at a New Year’s party at the Parker House; and placing a female sommelier from the Newton Marriott on “What’s My Line.’’ (She stumped the panel.)

Michael Myer Shulman of Newton died Sept. 28 of congestive heart failure after a brief illness at Wayside Hospice in Wayland. He was 90.

He grew up in Somerville, graduating from Somerville High School in 1937. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Boston University in 1941, he worked for the BU Publicity Bureau until getting drafted in early December 1942. While serving in the Army in France and Belgium, he created newspapers for the troops and coordinated special events.

Upon his return from overseas, he was hired as editor of the Brookline-based Boston Jewish Times newspaper. (The Boston Jewish Times merged with The Jewish Advocate in the mid-1990s.) Around that time, he joined Temple Israel of Boston and became active in its young adults group. At one of the group’s meetings, he met the woman he would marry, Sally (Reichert).

“Actually, the meeting was at my mother’s - well, my grandparents’ - house,’’ explained Bierer. “Daddy was off by himself, working at his typewriter, and my mother thought he looked interesting.’’

The couple wed in 1948, “honeymooned in Brookline, on Rawson Road,’’ Bierer said, and moved to Newton in 1952. They were married for nearly half a century, until Mrs. Shulman’s death in 1997.

During the postwar boom, as people and businesses moved from the cities to the suburbs, Mr. Shulman’s work shifted from journalism to public relations. He was first hired by Jordan Marsh to publicize new suburban locations for the department store chain; then he promoted the opening of shopping malls.

In 1968, he joined the advertising and PR firm Arnold & Company in Boston. At the time, the fledgling Marriott Corp. owned the land of the former Norumbega Park, in Waban, but development had stalled because of resistance from the city of Newton. Mr. Shulman was attending a friend’s wedding in Washington, D.C., when he took it upon himself to visit the Marriott offices in Bethesda, Md., and pitch handling their public relations. “The Marriott office was in a trailer,’’ Bierer recounted. “He knocked on the door and said, ‘I’m Mike Shulman from Boston.’ ’’

Marriott chose him over larger competitors because of his strong relationships with Newton officials, and the Newton Marriott opened in 1970.

He set out on his own in 1974, creating M. Shulman & Associates Public Relations in Boston’s Back Bay. “Mike was constantly coming up with ideas for promoting hotels,’’ said Colin Nadeau of Andover, who was general manager of the Newton Marriott from 1974 through 1980 before becoming the hotel chain’s vice president of operations for the region. “I tried to get him to promote as many of the Marriotts as I could.’’

Nadeau also cited Mr. Shulman’s promotional work for Newton institutions such as Lasell College, the Newton History Museum at the Jackson Homestead, and the Chamber of Commerce.

In time, the agency’s clients included 12 Marriotts, the Parker House Hotel, law firms, and the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau. “He’ll always be remembered for his gentle manner,’’ Bierer said. “No glitzy dog-and-pony-show proposals, just a solid work ethic and his spot-on creative instincts of what would interest the media and how best to communicate a company’s message.’’

The agency closed when he retired in 1988.

During the past 20 years, Mr. Shulman attended many classes at Harvard’s Institute for Learning in Retirement. He belonged to Temple Israel for six decades, at times serving on a number of committees as well as its Board of Directors.

In addition to his daughter Lee, he leaves a son, James of Newton; another daughter, Jane Griffin of Wayland; and a sister, Vera Alperin of Needham. Services have been held.