Elizabeth Crow (born Elizabeth Venture Smith; July 29, 1946 – April 4, 2005) was an American editor, journalist, and businesswoman. Born in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, Crow was the oldest child in a family of six children. Her father, Harrison Venture Smith, was a senior executive at the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company, and her mother, Marlis deGreve Smith, was a housewife. Crow attended

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...

, earning a bachelor's degree in 1968. In the fall of that year she entered

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

to pursue a master's degree, but left just a few weeks into the semester to join the editorial staff at ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

'' magazine where she worked for the next decade. In 1974 Crow married Patrick Crow with whom she had three children: Samuel, Rachel, and Sarah. Their marriage ended in divorce. In 1978 Crow left ''New York'' to become the editor in chief of ''

Parents A parent is either the progenitor of a child or, in humans, it can refer to a caregiver or legal guardian, generally called an adoptive parent or step-parent. Parents who are progenitors are first-degree relatives and have 50% genetic meet. ...

'' magazine and spent the next several years overhauling both the content and the appearance of that magazine. In 1988 she became the CEO of the American branch of

Gruner + Jahr Gruner is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Dov Gruner (1912–1947), Jewish Zionist leader * Eduard Gruner, Swiss engineer * Elioth Gruner (1882–1939), Australian painter * Gottlieb Sigmund Gruner (1717–1778), Swiss ca ...

which at that time was publishing seven different magazines, including ''Parents''. Crow overhauled the content and appearance of all of these magazines, and successfully raised the revenue of all seven by more than 50 percent over the next five years. In 1993 Crow left Gruner + Jahr to become the editor-in-chief of '' Mademoiselle''. She was a member of the

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

Board of Jurors from 1991 to 1996. In the last decade of her life she worked in a variety of jobs, including vice president and editorial director of

Rodale, Inc. Rodale, Inc. (), was an American publisher of health and wellness magazines, books, and digital properties headquartered in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, with a satellite office in New York City. The company was founded in 1930. In 2017, it was acquired ...

, editorial director of

Primedia Primedia is a South African media group, headquartered in Sandton, Johannesburg. History Primedia was established in 1994 and its listing on the JSE Securities Exchange was completed in April 1995. Primedia remained listed on the JSE until 1 O ...

, and editorial director of

Consumers Union A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or use purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. Th ...

. Crow was also notably a long time board member of the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

and served on the advisory panel of ''

Opera News ''Opera News'' was an American classical music magazine. It was published from 1936 to 2023 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild—a non-profit organization, located at Lincoln Center, that was founded to promote opera and support the Metropolitan ...

'' magazine. Crow died on April 4, 2005, of esophageal cancer, according to her son, Samuel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crow, Elizabeth 1946 births 2005 deaths American magazine editors American women journalists Mills College alumni Rodale, Inc. Mademoiselle (magazine) American women magazine editors 20th-century American women 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American women