Thomas Shepard, former Look publisher, dies at 96
Hearst Newspapers
Thomas R. Shepard Jr., a former publisher of Look magazine and author, died April 29 of pneumonia at a Florida hospital. He was 96.
After serving in the Navy during World War II, Mr. Shepard considered both Harvard Business School and Look magazine's training program. Mike Cowles, the founder and publisher of Look, convinced him that he would get a better business education by joining Look.
Assigned first to the magazine's Cleveland office, Mr. Shepard launched a 26-year career that included stops in Boston and Los Angeles before he landed in New York in 1949. He rose from salesman to advertising sales manager to director of advertising before being named Look's publisher in 1965. In the mid-1960s, Look, a biweekly that showcased photographs in its feature pages, passed its rival Life in circulation, reaching 8.5 million. However, television's inroads into the advertising sales that were Look's principal source of revenue prompted a financial crisis, and the magazine ceased publishing in 1971. Life ended weekly publication the next YEAR?, ending the era of the mass-market photography feature magazine.
When Look shut its doors, Mr. Shepard made sure everyone on his sales team had new employment, and then joined the Institute of Outdoor Advertising as president, a job he held until 1976. During that time, Outdoor Advertising quadrupled in revenue, and he was elected to the ITS Hall of Fame.
Mr. Shepard was born in 1918 in New York City, the son of Thomas Rockwell Shepard and Marie Maze Dickinson Shepard. He grew up in East Orange, N.J., and graduated from Amherst College.
After graduation, Mr. Shepard, who wanted to get married but knew jobs were scarce, applied for what he believed was the best opportunity for a successful future in business -- the competitive Vick School of Applied Merchandising in New York, an executive marketing training program created by the Vick Chemical Co. He was one of just three graduates in 1941, by then having been a traveling salesman of Vick's Vapo-Rub to small-town country stores in Texas.
He married Nancy Kruidenier of Des Moines in September 1941.
The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Mr. Shepard voluteered to serve in the the Navy. Based on his experience with small boats, he was commissioned as an ensign. He was involved in six major campaigns, including Iwo Jima and Okinawa. At the end of his service, he held the rank of lieutenant commander.
After retiring, Mr. Shepard spent the next three decades traveling with his wife. He remained deeply involved with Amherst College, serving as president of his class for the past 20 years.
He enjoyed writing, authoring four books. The last, "Making the Sale: The Art of Salesmanship," was published just last year.
Mr. Shepard was passionate about national politics and international news. In the early 1990s, Mr. Shepard chaired George H. W. Bush's presidential campaign in Connecticut. A staunch, lifelong devotion to the Republican Party ended a decade later when Mr. Shepard began to prefer more moderate Democratic candidates.
A longtime resident of Greenwich, Conn., Mr. Shepard was deeply involved in the community, holding multiple civic leadership positions.
Mr. Shepard is survived by his wife, Nancy; three daughters, Sue Jaques of Lambertville, N.J., Molly Dickinson Shepard of Philadelphia and Amy Knight of Chevy Chase, Md.; a son, Thomas R. Shepard III of Rye, N.Y; nine grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.
Funeral services will be private.