Donald Emory Welsh (October 6, 1943 – February 6, 2010) was a magazine publisher and editor.

Early life

Welsh was born in

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...

. His parents were Clevelle and Edward Welsh. Welsh studied at Columbia College. While there, he was a member of

St. Anthony Hall St. Anthony Hall or the Fraternity of Delta Psi is an American fraternity and literary society. Its first chapter was founded at Columbia University on , the Calendar of saints, feast day of Anthony the Great, Saint Anthony the Great. The frater ...

. He then attended the

Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Cleveland State University College of Law is the law school of Cleveland State University, a Public university, public research university in Cleveland, Ohio. The school traces its origins to Cleveland Law School (founded in 1897), which merged in ...

Career

After being admitted to the Ohio

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

, he worked for the

Cleveland Trust Company KeyBank, the primary subsidiary of KeyCorp, is a regional bank headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, and is the only major bank based in Cleveland. KeyBank is one of the largest banks in the United States. Key's customer base spans retail, small b ...

. He soon moved on to the magazine business, starting at ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...

'' in the advertising department. From there, he moved to ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', rising to the position of associate publisher. He went on to be the founding editor of ''

Outside Outside or Outsides may refer to: General * Wilderness * Outside (Alaska), any non-Alaska location, as referred to by Alaskans Books and magazines * ''Outside'', a book by Marguerite Duras * ''Outside'' (magazine), an outdoors magazine Film, th ...

''. Welsh left ''Outside'' to run the magazine division of another business group, where he focused largely on children's magazines. He created more than twenty magazines, based on well-known franchises such as

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

, the Mighty Morphine Power Rangers, the Muppets. He bought the division in 1987, and named it Welsh Publishing Group. He sold Welsh Publishing Group to

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

in October 1994, but agreed to stay on with the company. In 1998, He co-founded ''Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel'' with

Arthur Frommer Arthur Frommer (born July 17, 1929) is a travel writer. He founded the Frommer's brand of travel guides. Frommer was born in Jefferson City, Missouri, and moved to Brooklyn, New York when he was 14. He graduated from New York University in 1950 ...

. it sold some 70,000 copies of each issue in newsstand headed toward a circulation of 400,000 by the end of 1999, but struggled to expand its presence.Kerwin, Ann Marie. 2000. “`Budget Travel’ Moves into Newsweek’s Domain.” ''Advertising Age'' 71 (1): 4. via EBSCO, accessed June 11, 2022. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=2641288&site=eds-live&scope=site. It was sold to ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' in 1999. In 2002, he created ''Budget Living'' magazine to critical acclaim, but not commercial success. However, it won the general excellence award from the

American Society of Magazine Editors The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) is an industry trade group for magazine journalists and editors of magazines published in the United States. ASME includes the editorial leaders of most major consumer magazine in print and digital ex ...

. He also created the magazine ''ForbesLife MountainTime'' with Forbes.

Personal life

In 1996, Welsh married Bourne Floyd. They lived in

Boston Corner, New York Boston Corner is a hamlet of the town of Ancram in Columbia County, New York, United States and the town of Northeast in Dutchess County. The District of Boston Corner was incorporated by Massachusetts in 1838 from a tract of unincorporated land ...

. They had a daughter named Leah. Welsh died of drowning, in an accident in

Tortola Tortola () is the largest and most populated island of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It has a surface area of with a total population of 23,908, with 9,400 residents in ...

, the

British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = "Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Brit ...

at the age of 66.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Welsh, Donald 1943 births 2010 deaths People from Youngstown, Ohio Columbia College (New York) alumni St. Anthony Hall Cleveland–Marshall College of Law alumni 20th-century American lawyers American publishers (people) American magazine people Rolling Stone people Deaths by drowning Accidental deaths in the British Virgin Islands