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. But he said he wished people realized that if hed been left totally on his own, he might have done something different, so why did they question it when he finally decided he would do something different., Although Chandler often likened himself to the eagle that serves as the symbol of The Times I like to soar, to get above the minutiae and the crowds he insisted that as long as he was publisher, I was living the life I wanted to live. On March 5, 1980, Chandler announced that Johnson would become the fifth publisher of The Times and the first since the papers infancy who was not a member of the Otis or Chandler families. The Chandlers had no rival as the most powerful family in Southern California. Nothing but my kids is more important to me than the Los Angeles Times, he said in 1999. Although the decision stunned her, friends said they had long seen the breakup coming. Historical Person Search Search Search Results Results Otis Chandler (1928 - 1970) Try FREE for 14 days Try FREE for 14 days How do we create a person's profile? I think he saw leaving Missy as getting his freedom in one way, said David Laventhol, publisher of The Times from 1989 to 1994. Unbeknown to the reporters and editors who worked on that project and to the entire editorial staff of The Times the paper had agreed to share the profits from the issue with Staples Center as part of a complicated arrangement by which The Times became a founding partner of the arena. Then, on April 11, 1960, Norman Chandler invited more than 700 people to a luncheon at the Biltmore Bowl ballroom in downtown Los Angeles, where he promised a special announcement.. Chandler had always had an active life outside the newspaper business, and in his final years as publisher, close friends and associates knew that the lure of those interests combined with fatigue, restlessness, health problems and major changes in his personal life were inexorably leading him away from The Times. His mother scooped him up and rushed to the hospital, steering the car with one hand and holding his hand with the other, frantically searching for a pulse. He accused Willes and Downing of misusing and abusing the newsroom staff, of unbelievably stupid and unprofessional handling of the Staples special section and of perpetrating a scandal and a fiasco that posed the most serious single threat to the future survival and growth of this great newspaper during my more than 50 years of being associated with The Times., This was, he said, probably the single most devastating period in the history of this great newspaper. It wasnt meeting Bettina that did it, even though Missy thinks so, Chandler said many years later, referring to Marilyn Chandler by her nickname. Periodically, Chandler rented the now-defunct Riverside Raceway for a day so he, Thomas and their friends could race their cars. By the time he left the publishers office, it had increased tenfold during his tenure. Chandler changed The Times so dramatically and became so identified with the paper that when he left the publishers office at age 52, and again when he relinquished his corporate titles five years later, employees at The Times and Chandlers peers throughout the industry were both stunned and puzzled. But by 1962, The Times had become a different institution. Unencumbered by union contracts, Chandler made major technological improvements at The Times, shifting from traditional hot type letterpress production to more flexible photo-composition and offset printing, and making The Times the first major newspaper in the United States to computerize typesetting. But in a letter to his mother 12 years later, Otis referred to her as that person who made it possible for me to provide leadership to The Times, adding: It was a tremendous gamble for you to take on any young man of 32. There was no mention of his father. 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. His first year, he increased it 45%. But in 1972, he suffered his most damaging blow and it was, to a significant extent, self-inflicted. The Times, he would later say, was very much in his blood even then. As he did in every posting at The Times, he filled notebook after notebook with his thoughts on possible improvements. Typically, Chandler would offer gentle advice, Carroll said, but never try to dictate what the new management should do with the paper. When he started buying vintage cars again several years later, he purchased another 1931 Duesenberg, this time for $1.2 million, en route to building another world-class collection. On arrival, she encountered a doctor she knew, and he revived the boy with a shot of adrenaline in the heart. The explosion was blamed on union militants, and, Otis once said, I was raised to hate the unions. (He later mellowed on that topic, although he always opposed unionization at The Times.). Chandler always denied any conflict of interest, and he invariably emerged from these controversies with his reputation for personal integrity intact. It was a sign that you now have a boss who believes in good, tough journalism, who wants to produce the best paper in the country and wholl support you in your efforts and make it possible to achieve that, he said. Thomas, who was among the editors brought over from the Mirror, said he believed that the windfall of local talent was as responsible for The Times subsequent success as the hiring of big guns from the East. Chandler, he said, loved being publisher. And it became clear over the years that he did not have any such intention. Various Chandlers controlled about 65% of the Times Mirror voting stock before the sale to Tribune in 2000, and most of them love Willes, Otis said several months before those negotiations began. A tribute will be held at The Times at a later date for Times staff, as well as retirees from the paper and the Times Mirror Corp. [1], Times editorial page editor Anthony Day observed that Chandler "had been raised to be a prince". But he never interfered with an editorial decision, Thomas said, never tried to tell me how a story should be written or edited or played, or how a page should look.. In 1998, Chandler dissolved his last official ties with The Times. Newspapers are a mature, non-growth industry, vulnerable to cyclical economic downturns and increases in the cost of newsprint, he said. But there is nothing as fascinating as the newspaper business, and I cant imagine any challenge more satisfying than the work we did to improve The Times.. Seldom has a newspaper had such an opportunity to meld the best of three staffs. Despite Chandlers worries and despite what he said was a constant stream of calls and letters from Times executives past and present, asking him to do something about the direction of the newspaper, he made no real effort for most of Willes tenure to influence what was happening at Times Mirror Square. The stock price tripled during his first three years at the company, and circulation grew modestly. Doctors said his right arm, yanked from its socket by the impact, would be virtually useless for the rest of his life. Sierra Canyon proves to be too much for Taft in Division I regional basketball opener, High school soccer: Southern California Regional results and updated pairings, High school basketball: Southern California and Northern California Regional results and updated pairings, Clippers still seeking right roster combination as they fall to Timberwolves. 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 also began to develop a love of speed and once had to do a stint in traffic school after getting a speeding ticket on his bicycle, he said. When many top Times executives proved either reluctant to change or incapable of meeting his standards after he became publisher, he replaced 22 of 23 department heads within the first year. I never had him second-guess me, ever, said William F. Thomas, The Times editor from 1971 to 1989. He had the papers support when he ran unsuccessfully for president in 1960. His two predecessors as chairman his father and Murphy had been invited to remain on the board, in a non-voting capacity, after their 70th birthdays, but Chandler was not extended a similar invitation, and he was clearly hurt by that. He expected the very best of himself and of those around him.. Otis Chandler died at age 51 years old in March 1971. In the 1980 speech, he complained that he felt increasingly like an outcast. The 1962 gubernatorial campaign was another. He hired the best people he could find and gave them the freedom, the resources and the challenge to take a newspaper that had been mocked as partisan, parochial and inferior and turn it into a publication that could no longer be sneered at. Doctors estimated that his dislocated right arm would never fully heal, but, citing a disciplined training regimen, Chandler claimed to regain virtually all use. Chandler attributed his pursuit of solo athletics like shotputting and weightlifting to the same sources, saying, "No one could say that the team carried me or that the coach put me in because my name was Chandler". [1], Chandler was raised on a 10-acre (40,000m2) citrus ranch in Sierra Madre owned by his parents. 1. He moved gradually at first, then much more quickly, especially after hiring Day, who joined the paper as chief editorial writer in 1969 and later became editor of the editorial pages. ADVERTISEMENT BY ANCESTRY.COM. Their son Harry concurred, although he also agreed with his mother that most of the familys leisure activities revolved around what Dad wanted to do camping, water skiing, cliff-jumping, surfing. After the series was published, Otis asked for an editorial criticizing the Birchers. [citation needed]. Well before Chandler was named publisher, a poll of Washington correspondents conducted by writer Leo Rosten named The Times one of the three least fair and reliable newspapers in the country. Chandler himself invested more than $200,000 of his personal funds. Compare DNA and explore genealogy for Otis Ashmore Chandler born 1891 Five Points, Banks, Georgia, United States died 1956 DeKalb, Georgia, United States including ancestors + children + Y-chromosome DNA + more in the free family tree community. A year later, he moved again. Who can help student-athletes cash in? I think building houses is a replacement for the satisfaction he got from The Times, his wife, Bettina, said just before construction began on the Ojai house. They wanted to impeach Earl Warren, chief justice of the United States. (Little) Chandler. Williams was 21 years older than Chandler and often pulled in his reins. It may sound strange for a Chandler to say this, he said in one such conversation, but I dont think my family and the other people running the company are looking ahead enough to the Internet and other new media. He foresaw the sprawling megalopolis that Los Angeles and its neighboring counties would become, and he wanted The Times to be the dominant paper from Santa Barbara to the Mexican border.. 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. Victims suffer from severe dementia, as well as the stiffness, tremors and impaired movements characteristic of Parkinsons. Hed put you in there, and he let you do it and if you werent performing, out you went.. Marian Otis Chandler (1866-1952), Born Emma Marian Otis. Chandler is survived by his wife; sons Harry of Los Angeles and Michael of Bend, Ore; daughters Cathleen Eckhardt of Soquel, Calif., and Carolyn Chandler of Santa Barbara; sister Camilla Chandler Frost of Los Angeles; and 15 grandchildren. Lewy body disease is a brain disorder combining some of the most debilitating characteristics of Parkinsons and Alzheimers diseases. 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. He worked out daily, lifting weights in a gym he had built at The Times and improvising when he was traveling. Everyone wondered why, at so young an age, he would step away from something that he had had such an enormous impact in building, Louis D. Boccardi, former president and chief executive officer of Associated Press, said more than a decade later. By the time of graduation, he weighed 200 pounds. 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. . 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. Shaw, The Times longtime media critic, filed a draft of this obituary before his death Aug. 1. Find records of Otis Chandler Birth records Marriage records Divorce records . 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. The corporate air was a little too rarified for him, said Swayze, his secretary. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Atonio Mafi draft diary: Mental health should be a priority, even in football culture, Roundtable: Our March Madness projections for UCLA, USC and others, Elliott: Kings trade Jonathan Quick, a legendary goaltender who couldnt make time stand still, Left-handed pitchers offer gold-like value for high school teams, Before and after photos from space show storms effect on California reservoirs, 19 cafes that make L.A. a world-class coffee destination, Dramatic before and after photos from space show epic snow blanketing SoCal mountains, Shocking, impossible gas bills push restaurants to the brink of closures. 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. Otis shoveled fertilizer for the family fruit trees at an early age and was kept on such a modest allowance that even when he went to college, he later recalled, the most lavish transportation I could afford was half-interest in a secondhand motorcycle.. But the Mirror continued to falter, and his parents decided they didnt want his first command to be that of a sinking ship. He said he didnt regret the 40 years he spent here. If he hadnt divorced Missy, Im not sure he wouldve left the paper. Word that Chandler was breaking his silence ricocheted through the newsroom. Nevertheless, the increasingly liberal stand on most major issues angered many in the Chandler family. He lived out one of his fathers fantasies when he became a professional race car driver, but nearly died in 1984 when his car slammed into a wall at the Indianapolis 500. At a time when newspapers were becoming increasingly vulnerable to competition from the Internet, television, direct mail and other sources for information and advertising, Willes said it was imperative that they market themselves more aggressively and improve journalistically to make themselves more relevant to readers and more valuable to advertisers. And that apparently gave Mrs. Chandler the opening she needed. No publisher in America improved a paper so quickly on so grand a scale, took a paper that was marginal in qualities and brought it to excellence as Otis Chandler did, David Halberstam wrote in The Powers That Be, his 1979 book about the news media. Chandler insisted that he wasnt giving up the journalistic chase or losing his competitive edge, simply assuming a larger corporate responsibility. (1924 - 1972) Jump to: Bio graphy Family Photos Comments Obit uary. Readers could be excused for thinking that only one political party existed in Southern California. [1], Chandler enrolled at his parents' alma mater, Stanford University, in 1946. Recovery was slow but complete, and it was during that period of recuperation, Chandler said many years later, that he did a lot of thinking and somehow developed my competitiveness.. Collection Title: Chandler Family History Collection Digitized by California Audiovisual Preservation Project. Le Dowling arbre gnalogique avec les parents d'undemi-million, contient des milliers de photos et plus d'un millierGeneaStars. The GeoTek debacle helped greatly exacerbate the colon problem. But he also had a princes sense of entitlement, a sense that perhaps I dont have to do this every damn day, he added. So did the shutdown in January 1962 of the Mirror and the Examiner, the morning Hearst newspaper. LA Times After dropping out of Stanford, Chandler started working at the newspaper as a secretary to his father, Harry Chandler, who had been its publisher since 1917. The agreement made sense financially for The Times, but it proved to be a boon in another way as well. Lucy Otis (born Chandler) in MyHeritage family trees (OBRIEN Web Site (FamilySearch)) view all 19 Immediate Family Stephen Otis husband Arunah Otis son Caroline Graves daughter Calvin Otis son Alice Otis daughter Chandler Otis son Lucy Randall daughter Stephen Otis son James Otis son Seth Otis son Nathaniel Otis son James Otis son view all 15 Perelman once wrote that while traveling through the western United States by train, he asked a porter to bring him a newspaper and unfortunately, the poor man, hard of hearing, brought me the Los Angeles Times.. At 71, he resumed playing tennis. I dont know but I didnt have that choice.. When I came, recalled Day, the former editorial page editor, I thought [Otis] was going to build a progressive newspaper dynasty like the Washington Post or the New York Times. Staffing in Washington and Sacramento was expanded. Within a few years, The Times had a 2-1 lead over the Herald Examiner in advertising revenue, which provides about 80% of the income for most newspapers. It wasnt as much fun.. He started work right away as a pressroom apprentice on the graveyard shift. 'It was three outside members of the [Times Mirror] board who persuaded him to do it At the time of her death in 1997, she had eight grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. Chandler said there was no simple answer: The region was changing, the demographic was changing, the type of paper was changing, he said. 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 His father made sure that Chandler experienced work in all sections of the organization, assigning him to jobs in the industrial production of the paper, business management, clerical administration, and the news-gathering operation.[1]. Hes restless. Under Chandlers direction, The Times scrambled to hire the best of the reporters and editors from the two defunct papers and to get rid of its own deadwood. Mrs. Chandler later achieved fame on her own by raising almost $20 million to finance the creation of the Music Center, a step that went a long way toward erasing the hick town image that Otis had long resented, and she was always keenly interested in the papers coverage of culture and society. There Chandler spent much of his time alone, later in life unable to name a single childhood friend. [1], In 1990, Chandler was trampled by a musk ox in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Otis . He used the same tone of voice with the president of the United States and the guy who came to change the lightbulbs in his office, said Donna Swayze, his executive secretary from 1962 to 1988. Willes, he said in 1999, was basically undoing what I and my father and Franklin Murphy all did, dating back to 1958. On the fringes of that movement and especially active in Southern California was an ultra-right-wing organization known as the John Birch Society. 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