Herb Knoll

Author | Speaker | Seminar & Workshop Leader

As a bank executive, Herb Knoll was known as a man who could get the job done. But when the Western New York native lost his wife, Michelle Renee Knoll, to pancreatic cancer in 2008, he found few resources to help him recover from his grief. You can imagine Knoll’s disbelief when he asked a Barnes & Noble clerk to check his system to see what books he had available for widowers. The clerk replied, “Mister, I don’t have a thing for you.” It was at that moment that the former bank president, marketer, and professional speaker, and now a widower advocate, rededicated his life to helping widowed men. Shortly thereafter, Knoll would leave his 38-year career in banking and begin researching and later writing a book for widowers. The more he learned about their plight, from high suicide rates to physical and emotional problems, the more he became motivated to write a book for the benefit of his fellow widowers. After nine years of research in which Knoll studied both the long and short-term impact of becoming a widower, Knoll released The Widower’s Journey (2017) (4.5 Stars out of 5 on Amazon.com).

In 2014, Knoll founded the Widowers Support Network LLC (WSN) (WidowersSupportNetwork.com) to “serve, comfort, and assist widowers and those who love them.” For years, Herb led widowers living around the world, seven days a week, with no charge or service fee. Knoll’s book inspired playwright and founder of the Alleyway Theatre in Buffalo, NY, Neal Radice, to write and produce the play “I’m Fine,” which went on to win the Emmanuel Fried Award for Outstanding New Play in upstate New York (2017). Knoll introduced and hosted the highly rated Widower’s Journey Podcast (2019), featuring exciting guests, subject matter experts, PhDs, authors, and, of course, widowers. The Widower’s Journey Podcast consistently earned a Top Ten rating among sixty podcasts designed to be listened to by widowers and widows, including earning the #1 Podcast for both Widowers and Widows, according to FeedSpot. Knoll’s dynamic podcast has followers in 44 countries and is available on all major podcast host providers.

The State of Florida House of Representatives invited Knoll to a session of the State Legislature in Tallahassee, Florida, so they could present Knoll with A TRIBUTE (2021) for his efforts to serve the widowed community.

After dedicating sixteen years of his life to the comfort and support of widowed men, Knoll passed the WSN reins to WidowWise LLC, and its dynamic leader and Managing Director, Chris Bentley (WidowersSupportNetwork.com). While Knoll will always be the founder of WSN, he will continue to contribute WSN’s efforts to heal hearts. Going forward, Knoll has other challenges he wishes to engage, including writing additional books and providing “Live” presentations to widowed men and women across America. Yes… Knoll is going on the road.

Background: A man of many interests, Knoll previously served as a weekly columnist for the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle and a contributing writer for Sales & Marketing Management and Marketing Times magazines. Among Knoll’s banking credits are serving as president of Marketplace Bank (FL) and in senior officer roles at Farm Bureau Bank (TX), Bank of America (TN), and KeyBank (Buffalo & Albany, NY).

In 1985, Knoll published The Total Executive. Following the book’s release, world-class fashion designer Piero DiMitri awarded Knoll the first-ever Piero DiMitri Executive Image Award (1988). The award was presented to Knoll by actress Jennifer O’Neill and world-class trumpeter Wynton Marsalis during New York’s Spring Preview of Men’s Fall Fashions. PBS affiliate WNED-TV produced Today’s Executive, a three half-hour television series hosted by Knoll featuring his business insights.

Inducted into the Buffalo/Niagara Sales & Marketing Executives Hall of Fame (1988), Knoll served as the Executive Director of the 10,000+ member Sales & Marketing Executives International. Knoll co-founded the Buffalo Ambassadors (Buffalo, NY), served as a board member of Wings for Widows (Minneapolis, MN), WMHT-TV Educational Television (PBS) (Albany, NY), Junior Achievement (Nashville, TN), Studio Arena Theatre, Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Alleyway Theatre (all three in Buffalo, NY), and volunteered as a Public Information Officer (PIO) for the Sumter Country Fire & Rescue (FL). Knoll served as a charter member of the board of directors for the Nap Ford Community School in Orlando, Florida, which served an underprivileged community in Orlando. Kenmore East High School inducted Knoll into its Hall of Distinction (2024). A popular guest on various international online outlets, websites, blogs, and podcasts, Knoll’s insights have been showcased by NationalWidowersOrganization.org, MennMore.com, ArtofManliness.com, and OpentoHope.com, to name just a few. A former U.S. Army Reserve Senior Drill Sergeant (E-7) (98th Division), Knoll is a proud Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus Council 11673. Knoll lives in Lake Mary, Florida, with his new wife, Maria C. Knoll, Ph.D.

Herb Knoll is a retired banking executive, professional speaker, and workshop leader. While Knoll’s efforts have primarily supported widowed men, both widowed men and ladies enjoy reading his many writings and attending one of his in-person presentations. The book The Widower’s Journey is available on Amazon.com in paperback, audiobook, and all digital formats. Knoll is available to present a “Live” address or a two-hour workshop free of charge to any church, house of worship, synagogue, hospice, club or organization. Honorariums are gladly accepted. Write Knoll at herb@TheWidowersJourney.com