Roy Edward Larsen (April 20, 1899 – September 9, 1979) was an American publishing executive who worked for Time Inc. for 56 years. Following founders Henry Luce and Briton Hadden, Larsen was credited with being responsible for the company's growth and success. At the time of his death he was described as being "one of the most influential figures in the golden age of the company's empire."

Early life

Larsen was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts, the son of Robert Larsen and Stella Belyea Larsen. He attended

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a Magnet school, magnet Latin schools, Latin Grammar schools, grammar State school, state school in Boston, Massachusetts. It has been in continuous operation since it was established on April 23, 1635. It is the old ...

, graduating in 1917, and entered

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

, graduating in 1921. While in college he served as treasurer and business manager of '' The Harvard Advocate'', where he brought the newspaper back to profitability by increasing circulation.

Career

Larsen directed sales from the inception of ''Time'' magazine, and he is credited with recruiting the first 12,000 subscribers via a direct mail campaign in 1923. He continued to increase sales and circulation over the next 30 years. When Hadden died in 1929, Larsen was appointed as ''Time''s business manager by Luce. In 1939 Larsen succeeded Luce as president of ''Time'', serving in this position to 1960 and then as vice chairman until his retirement in April 1979. Larsen helped to organize and develop ''

The March of Time ''The March of Time'' is an American newsreel series sponsored by Time Inc. and shown in movie theaters from 1935 to 1951. It was based on a radio news series broadcast from 1931 to 1945 that was produced by advertising agency Batten, Barton, ...

'', an Academy Award winning radio and news film series which was produced from 1935 to 1951. He also served as publisher of ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' magazine from 1936 to 1946. A fitness buff, Larsen developed an idea for a sports magazine in 1954, which later turned into ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

''. A conservationist, Larsen organized the Nantucket Conservation Fund in 1965, and was elected to the board of the Nature Conservancy in 1973. As a tribute to Larsen, Time Inc. gave the conservancy a 2,000-acre tract in East Texas now known as the Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary. Larsen died in 1979, and the following year was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Larsen married Margaret Zerbe in 1927. They had four children; a daughter, Anne (Simonson) and three sons: Robert, Christopher and Jonathan, the latter becoming editor-in-chief of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Roy E. 1899 births 1979 deaths Harvard College alumni Time (magazine) people American publishing chief executives American magazine publishers (people) Boston Latin School alumni