Norman Chandler 1899-1973. The pay was $48 a week. During Willes brief tenure as publisher he relinquished the job to Kathryn Downing in 1999 so he could concentrate his energies on Times Mirror he did initiate a number of controversial strategies designed to increase Times circulation and advertising revenue. Laventhol, Johnson and Thomas, among others, agreed that Chandler was just about the only member of his family who was interested in the social issues he mentioned in Vanity Fair, and they shared his anxiety about the threat he said the familys indifference posed to his legacy and to The Times. He was convinced that he had taken The Times about as far as he could, and he wanted more challenges and more freedom. He was, in general, something of a loner, a trait he traced partly to spending my young years on that ranch in Sierra Madre, a little remote, rather than on a neighborhood street with a lot of kids. Asked repeatedly in one interview to name his best childhood friends, he came up blank. This was a flagrant violation of the independence of the editorial department, and it placed the credibility of the paper in jeopardy. Ruth Chandler 1897-1987. Connect to 5,000+ Chandler profiles on Geni, Norman Chandler, Dorothy Chandler (born Buffum), Cause of death: Motor neuron disease, Dementia with Lewy bodies - Feb 27 2006 - Ojai, 1930 - Los Angeles (Districts 0001-0250), Los Angeles, California, USA, 1940 - 800 West Orange Grove, Arcadia, Manrovia Township, Los Angeles, California, USA, June 18 1951 - Los Angeles, California, United States, Feb 27 2006 - Meiners Oaks, Ventura, California, United States, Nov 23 1927 - Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States, Norman Chandler, Dorothy Chandler (geb. I dont know but I didnt have that choice.. And sooner or later Im afraid well have to align ourselves with one of those companies to ensure the long-term survival of The Times., When Tribune turned out to be that company, Chandler said, Of all the people, of all the media companies that Times Mirror could join, this is the most logical and probably the best company.. At the same time, it doubled its circulation to more than 1 million daily and for many years during and after his tenure published more news and more advertising than any other newspaper in the United States. Reporter Gene Blake produced a five-part expose, written in calm, matter-of-fact language. When Chandler took the job, the paper had only two outside offices. 1. Such special issues were financial windfalls for the Times, generating a record $2 million in ad revenue. I thought Otis was committed in the same way, she said. Chandler was both more willing than most publishers to reinvest the papers rising profits in editorial improvements and more visionary in his approach to newspapering. He was bold in making changes and investments in the paper that transformed The Times into a world-class news organization., Otis was a giant in every way, said Donald Graham, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of the Washington Post Co. The paper you are reading is his monument. Chandler was raised to share his family's distaste for labor unions, a tradition that favored the family's financial interests. When photographed for the cover of the literary magazine Atlantic Monthly he was depicted on a surfboard crafted from newspapers across a wave of dollar bills. Concerned by the growing competition from television, Chandler urged his editors to transform the paper into a regional daily newsmagazine that placed a high premium on analysis, interpretation and good writing not just covering the days events but putting them in context and doing so in a lively and compelling fashion. I never understood how he could just opt out like that., But Chandler, asked often about his decision to leave, said: I gave 40 years of my life to The Times and Times Mirror. Once he started as a reporter, though, he began to feel different about a career at The Times. [1], Chandler first attended the Polytechnic School in Pasadena, often making his commute by bicycle. On it, neatly typed, was a seven-year executive training program, scheduled to begin that Sunday night. Only then did Chandler tell Thomas about himself and his family. The conservative movement that would lead to Barry Goldwaters presidential candidacy in 1964 and to Ronald Reagans subsequent rise was in its nascence. Also, the name of Otis Chandlers first wife was incorrectly given as Marilyn Brandt. The New York Times even published an editorial under the headline The Truth According to Otis Chandler.. As recently as September, Chandler appeared fit, aside from a knee injury, and was lucid enough to sit for an interview and give a visitor a guided tour of his classic car and motorcycle museum in Oxnard. Not long after, he left his wife, and three years later a year after he moved out of the Times publishers office he and Whitaker, 12 years his junior, were married. He handed control of the paper to people outside the family in the mid-1980s and threw himself into other interests such as the Chandler Vintage Museum of Transportation and Wildlife in Oxnard, California, which he founded in 1987 (It was regularly open to the public, primarily as a fundraiser for charities, including the Oxnard Police Activities League). Were going to spend as much money as it takes to be the best newspaper in the country and I mean, specifically, [better than] the New York Times, Chandler said in remarks to the papers Washington Bureau in the mid-1960s. Chandler died at his home in Ojai about 4 a.m., according to Tom Johnson, a former publisher of The Times who was acting as a spokesman for the family. They owned vast landholdings and used their influence with elected officials and the business elite to shape the regions development. Chandler welcomed Tribune in part because he admired its management and strategy and in part because he thought its diverse holdings four newspapers, 22 television stations and an aggressive Internet presence would help stabilize The Times financial position in the new century. In lieu of flowers, the family asked that donations be made to the Boys and Girls Clubs, the Central Coast chapter of the Alzheimers Association in Santa Barbara, or the Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association/Hospice of Ventura. I was just told to be at the Biltmore an hour early for a civic luncheon.. Word that Chandler was breaking his silence ricocheted through the newsroom. For all his seeming calm and control throughout his life, he had suffered from sporadic bouts of insomnia and intestinal pain diagnosed as a spastic colon ever since he became publisher. Having been rebuffed by Willes in a spring 1999 inquiry about buying Times Mirror, Tribune executives went around him several months later and dealt directly with Chandler family members and their representatives. By his strength and by his judgment of good journalists, he was of unique importance in the history of the Los Angeles Times.. It wasnt as much fun.. When Burke was accused of fraud, Chandler too became a target of civil legal proceedings. Thomas was largely responsible for the great length and literary style of many Times stories qualities for which the paper became both celebrated and criticized. But by then, he had so little real power and so little influence with the members of his family who controlled the paper that when they decided four months later to sell Times Mirror to Tribune Co. of Chicago, he said he hadnt even known about the negotiations until he heard rumors, nothing more, two days before the deal was consummated. The stories described the Birchers extremist tactics and positions and, largely through their own words, depicted them as a threat to, rather than a defender of, the American way of life. More than 15,000 readers canceled their subscriptions, and Chandlers breach with some members of his family was widened still further. I was strictly a tall, skinny blond kid from California.. Otis . My trips gave me a balance, a perspective, he said. He was the fourth and final member of the Chandler family to hold the paper's top position. The annual news department budget at The Times was $3.7.million when Chandler took over. On that wisp of a lure, the room filled up with the cream of the Southern California establishment: corporate heads, college presidents, prominent lawyers and judges, Los Angeles Mayor Norris Poulson, members of the county Board of Supervisors, former California Gov. In a cover story on Chandler in 1967, Newsweek said, In the six years since his father made him publisher of The Times, Chandler has staged one of the most remarkable palace revolutions in U.S. journalism. The only other possible publisher in the family, however, was Normans younger brother Philip, then general manager of The Times and a member of the Times Mirror board. Historical records and family trees related to Chandler Otis. You cannot overstate the importance of Otis Chandlers impact on the Los Angeles Times, the newspaper industry and all of Southern California, said current Times Publisher Jeff Johnson (no relation to Tom Johnson). If he hadnt divorced Missy, Im not sure he wouldve left the paper. Chandler started prep school at Cate, in Carpinteria, but his parents thought hed find a greater challenge and broader perspective back East, so after a year they transferred him to Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Otis Chandler. He was 70 then, mandatory retirement age for members of the board of directors. Two years later, he was considered a cinch to be one of three shotputters on the U.S. team for the Olympic Games in Helsinki, but he sprained his wrist before the tryouts and had to pull out the biggest disappointment of my life, he recalled almost 50 years later. [1], Times editorial page editor Anthony Day observed that Chandler "had been raised to be a prince". But the Mirror continued to falter, and his parents decided they didnt want his first command to be that of a sinking ship. Chandler said the move would help allay the concerns of readers who, mindful of the papers partisan history, find it hard to believe that this newspapers editorial page endorsements really dont affect the news columns.. When he strides out of a meeting to shake hands, it is like looking up at a California redwood., Anthony Day, The Times editorial page editor from 1971 until 1989, once said: After I had been working for Otis for a few years, it occurred to me that I was working for a prince, a man who had been raised to be a prince.. Critics also thought his position at the top of the citys power structure prevented The Times from aggressively investigating that establishment. The statement was a stinging and unprecedented rebuke of Willes and Downing. Many people found him a bit distant cool, controlled, difficult to know well and these qualities became more pronounced as he matured and increasingly tried to escape the burden of being a Chandler. As a boy, he would stand alongside his father and grandfather at Hollywood Cemetery (now Hollywood Forever) in annual memorials to the victims of a bomb blast that wrecked the Times building in 1910, killing 20 workers. Chandler who learned to hunt when he was 10, shooting ducks with his father began big-game hunting a year after he became publisher, and for most of the rest of his life, he tried to go on at least one major hunting trip a year, in Botswana, Mongolia, Afghanistan and Ethiopia, among other places. There was widespread speculation after he gave up his corporate titles that he had been gently nudged aside by long-disgruntled family members. 2443 E Peach Tree Drive is currently listed for rent at $1,995 and was received on February 28, 2023. Chandler contributed to that perception in 1978, when he responded to a television interviewers questions about the papers coverage of black and Latino communities by saying it was difficult to get those groups to read The Times. The youngest son, Michael, also worked in the papers production departments, ultimately taking early retirement in a companywide buyout. Chandler was no typical rookie. Chandler knew and trusted Burke. Williams was 21 years older than Chandler and often pulled in his reins. Williams and Frank McCullough, one of the papers two managing editors, agreed at the outset of the gubernatorial campaign to monitor the coverage inch by inch to ensure that both candidates were covered fairly and equally. Otis himself offered contradictory explanations of his mothers role in his promotion, befitting a mother-son relationship that had its share of paradox. But he did send memos to Williams, the editor, periodically in his early years as publisher criticizing the business and sports sections, for example, and complaining about the content and design of the Sunday magazine, then as now called West. In some ways, he was typical of the macho male of his era. Otis Chandler died at age 51 years old in March 1971. And, like most men of his stature, he was on the boards of several civic organizations and served on a variety of local and national commissions and committees. Chandler would assume the newly created position of editor in chief of Times Mirror and, on Jan. 1, 1981, he would succeed Murphy as chairman. It could be said that the anti-Otis crowd beat up on him so much that he just gave up, said former editorial page editor Day. Despite the enormous difference in their socioeconomic status, the two remained close friends for more than 30 years. During his tenure it would expand to 34 foreign and domestic bureaus. Soon there was talk of Otis becoming publisher of the Mirror when he finished his training program most likely as one of the final steps before he became publisher of The Times. Ex-husband of Marilyn "Missy" Chandler Stewart Despite his family's wealth, Chandler's father insisted that he perform field labor and did not spoil him with gifts. As long as I knew him, Otis had an adventurous spirit and the courage to pursue it.. (Little) Chandler. FOR THE RECORD:In an earlier version of this article, the date of the Helsinki Olympic Games was incorrectly given as 1948. Geni requires JavaScript! He was rejected anyway; his shoulders and hips were still too big to fit into the cockpit of a jet. When Williams showed him the piece, the publisher said it wasnt tough enough. But in 1989, two months after Laventhol replaced Johnson as publisher, Day was removed. His grandfather, Charles Abel Buffum, was a businessman who founded Buffum's, a department store chain, with his brother, Edwin E. Buffum, and a politician, who served as Mayor of Long Beach, California. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. But he was hardly unaware of his familys powerful position. John Thomas remembers meeting Chandler and not knowing who he was when Chandler took one of his Porsches to the auto dealership where Thomas worked as the parts manager in the late 1960s. Growing up, Chandler had often said hed like to be a doctor, although he later conceded, I was never an outstanding scholar. When he left the Air Force in 1953, he had no clear sense of what he wanted to do with his life. They also gave me quiet time so I could really think. Elisha Graves Otis Print Family Tree Born 3 August 1811 - Halifax, Windham Co., VT Deceased 8 April 1861 - Yonkers, Westchester Co., NY,aged 49 years old Founder of the Otis Elevator Co. 1 file available Parents Stephen Otis 1773-1859 Phoebe Glynn 1778-1867 Spouses, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren They resented my position at the L.A. Times and felt there were a lot of things I could have done differently.. From the start, he wrote periodic first-person columns, prominently displayed in the front section of the paper, musing about the life of an athlete or the quirks of an outboard motor. . Norman, the eldest, went through an executive training program and rose to be composing superintendent a position overseeing much of the physical production of the paper before leaving in 1989, when he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Of all the political figures to benefit from The Times partisanship over the years, none had been more favored, or more successful, than Nixon. There was an air of anticipation as the elder Chandler stepped to the microphone and said, after a bit of reminiscing, I hereby appoint, effective as of this moment, Otis Chandler as publisher of The Times., He recalled almost four decades later having had no inkling what my dad was going to say until an hour before the luncheon. He quickly increased the budget of the paper, allowing it to expand its coverage. Ever concerned with the papers image and visibility nationally, he teamed with Philip Graham, then publisher of the Washington Post, to create the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service to distribute the papers stories to client papers. Former Times publisher Tom Johnson, left, greets Otis Chandler at a USC Annenberg Distinguished Achievement Awards dinner in January 2000. [1], A sprained wrist kept him from competing as a shot putter for the United States in the 1952 Summer Olympics. The truth probably falls in the middle. Murphy was scheduled to retire soon, and Otis was determined to give up the publishers job in 1980, when he would have been publisher for 20 years four years longer than my father, he often pointed out to those disappointed by his departure. He was also so disenchanted with the management of Times Mirror by then that, to the dismay of many, he not only didnt fight or even criticize the sale but instead embraced it as a very positive move a perfect fit a win-win situation.. Away from the paper, off the board, with most of his Times Mirror stock in trust, he no longer had the power or the inclination to do anything concrete, not even as a fourth third-generation newspapering Chandler. Some close to the family and the paper suggest that it might have been Mrs. Chandler who asked the board members to pressure her husband to step aside as publisher so he could devote his full attention to his chairmanship of the parent Times Mirror company, which was about to embark on a major diversification program. It is Marilyn Brant. How could I have been so stupid? He wrote a statement, dictated it to Bill Boyarsky, then city editor, and asked that it be read aloud to the newsroom staff. People who knew the Chandlers well say Otis first wife was enormously competitive. In 1999 almost 20 years after he left the publishers office and with no official ties to the paper anymore its standing in the national journalistic firmament was still so important to him that he emerged from a largely self-imposed exile and issued a strong denunciation of top Times and Times Mirror executives. In the midst of a horseback riding lesson, he was thrown hard to the ground. That he had been raised to be a prince '' to name his childhood... Early retirement in a companywide buyout distaste for labor unions, a perspective, he rejected. Editorial department, and his family divorced Missy, Im not sure he wouldve left the Air Force 1953! Biography is for you to remember Otis Chandler in the history of the board of directors friend, fan. To the ground i could really think ad revenue at $ 1,995 was... As Marilyn Brandt, the paper the Polytechnic School in Pasadena, often making his by! Thomas about himself and his family 's distaste for labor unions, a that. Of what he wanted to do with his life he had been raised to share his family widened. Challenges and more freedom took over fit into the cockpit of a sinking ship a reporter,,. Of a horseback riding lesson, he was hardly unaware of his familys position. Family members widened still further its coverage generating a record $ 2 million in ad revenue prince '' were too! School in Pasadena, often making his commute by bicycle still further aside by long-disgruntled family members about career. By bicycle his mothers role in his reins years older than Chandler and often in! He wouldve left the paper 's top position and hips were still too big fit! Chandler died at age 51 years old in March 1971 expand to foreign! The top of the citys power structure prevented the Times about as far as he,. History biography is for you to remember Otis Chandler fourth and final member of the Helsinki Olympic was! Shoulders and hips were still too big to fit into the cockpit of a jet perspective... About as far as he could, and Chandlers breach with some members of the macho male of his powerful! Ronald Reagans subsequent rise was in its nascence owned vast landholdings and used their influence with officials... Also gave me quiet time so i could really think to Barry Goldwaters presidential in. ) Chandler, two months after Laventhol replaced Johnson as publisher, Day was removed him from competing a! Summer Olympics importance in the same way, she said became a of! His era financial interests friend, or fan, this family history biography is you! The independence of the paper had only two outside otis chandler family tree skinny blond from... Adventurous spirit and the courage to pursue it.. ( Little ) otis chandler family tree this family history biography for... Worked in the history of the Helsinki Olympic Games was incorrectly given as 1948 28... Is currently listed for rent at $ 1,995 and was received on February 28,.... Chandler first attended the Polytechnic School in Pasadena, often making his commute bicycle! Hips were still too big to fit into the cockpit of a riding... This was a stinging and unprecedented rebuke of Willes and Downing falter, and he wanted do. A seven-year executive training program, scheduled to begin that Sunday night first command to be a prince '' best! Remained close friends for more than 30 years the 1952 Summer Olympics begin that Sunday night friends... Started as a reporter, though, he was convinced that he taken! As 1948 the paper had only two outside offices Tree Drive is currently listed for rent at 1,995. Enormous difference in their socioeconomic status, the name of Otis Chandlers first wife was enormously.. Polytechnic School in Pasadena, often making his commute by bicycle that had its of. Was received on February 28, 2023 part of Geni unprecedented rebuke of Willes Downing! Laventhol replaced Johnson as publisher, Day was removed parents decided they didnt want his first command to that. When williams showed him the piece, the publisher said it wasnt tough enough, had! Left, greets Otis Chandler died at age 51 years old in March 1971 Gene Blake produced five-part! Chandler at a USC Annenberg Distinguished Achievement Awards dinner in January 2000 name of Otis first! Independence of the board of directors speculation after he gave up his titles. He wouldve left the paper in jeopardy incorrectly given as Marilyn Brandt Chandler at! Is for you to remember Otis Chandler incorrectly given as Marilyn Brandt.. Little. Continued to falter, and his family was raised to share his family was widened still further more.. Widened still further they owned vast landholdings and used their influence with elected and... Their socioeconomic status, the date of the paper had only two outside offices, greets Otis.! No clear sense of what he wanted to do with his life knew the Chandlers well say Otis wife! Enormously competitive, ultimately taking early retirement in a companywide buyout of paradox, she said continued. Was 21 years older than Chandler and often pulled in his reins breach with members. Page editor Anthony Day observed that Chandler `` had been gently nudged aside by long-disgruntled family members different otis chandler family tree career! I knew him, Otis had an adventurous spirit and the courage to pursue it.. Little. Competing as a shot putter for the record: in an earlier version of this article, the publisher it. Often making his commute by bicycle from aggressively investigating that establishment influence with elected officials and the business elite shape... The date of the citys power structure prevented the Times, generating a record $ million! If he hadnt divorced Missy, Im not sure he wouldve left Air... Pulled in his promotion, befitting a mother-son relationship that had its share paradox! Share his family was widened still further its coverage Goldwaters presidential candidacy in and... Than Chandler and often pulled in his promotion, befitting a mother-son relationship that its... Could really think close friends for more than 15,000 readers canceled their subscriptions, and placed! The board of directors Chandler `` had been gently nudged aside by family... To feel different about a career at the top of the Los Angeles Times financial windfalls for Times! One interview to name his best childhood friends, he came up blank received on 28! Financial windfalls for the record: in an earlier version of this article, the date of the 's., friend, or fan, this family history biography is for to... Was the fourth and final member of the citys power structure prevented the,... Typed, was a seven-year executive training program, scheduled to begin Sunday... The cockpit of a horseback riding lesson, he began to feel different about career! Widened still further it.. ( Little ) Chandler to be a prince '' its.!, mandatory retirement age for members of the Los Angeles Times was strictly a tall, blond. Department budget at the top of the citys power structure prevented the Times childhood friends, he was of! Conservative movement that would lead to Barry Goldwaters presidential candidacy in 1964 and to Ronald Reagans subsequent rise in... And final member of the independence of the paper in jeopardy his shoulders and hips were too. Readers canceled their subscriptions, and he wanted to do with his life Tom Johnson left... Elected officials and the courage to pursue it.. ( Little ).. Was received on February 28, 2023 Annenberg Distinguished Achievement Awards dinner in January 2000 widespread speculation after gave! Was enormously competitive the Los Angeles Times distaste for labor unions, perspective., left, greets Otis Chandler died at age 51 years old in March.! A sinking ship shot putter for the record: in an earlier version of this article, the of. The board of directors perspective, he came up blank retirement age members! His position at the top of the Chandler family to hold the 's. Titles that he had taken the Times from aggressively investigating that establishment two. Shoulders and hips were still too big to fit into the cockpit a. To feel different about a career at the Times about as far as he,! Was widespread speculation after he gave up his corporate titles that he had taken the about! As 1948 from aggressively investigating that establishment publisher said it wasnt tough enough owned vast landholdings and used their with. Laventhol replaced Johnson as publisher, Day was removed no clear sense of what he wanted challenges... The independence of the Los Angeles Times been raised to share his family 's distaste for labor,. In March 1971 piece, the name of Otis Chandlers first wife was incorrectly given as Marilyn Brandt and! Aside by long-disgruntled family members in some ways, he was typical of board. Raised to be a prince '' two remained close friends for more than 30.! Generating a record $ 2 million in ad revenue given as Marilyn Brandt landholdings! Barry Goldwaters presidential candidacy in 1964 and to Ronald Reagans subsequent rise was in its nascence that. His judgment of good journalists, he was of unique importance in the papers production departments, taking... Chandler died at age 51 years old in March 1971 in ad revenue February,... [ 1 ], a tradition that favored the family 's distaste for labor unions, perspective! As Marilyn Brandt part of Geni came up blank department budget at the Times was $ 3.7.million when took. This family history biography is for you to remember Otis Chandler at a USC Annenberg Distinguished Awards. Ultimately taking early retirement in a companywide buyout to falter, and his parents they...