Otis Chandler was a Sagittarius and was born in the Silent Generation. ", The Otis Chandler era at the L.A. Times began on April 11, 1960, when his father introduced him as the new publisher. And. Perelman wrote of being on a cross-country train ride and stopping in Albuquerque, N.M.: "I asked the porter to get me a newspaper and unfortunately the poor man, hard of hearing, brought me the Los Angeles Times.". This is the central mystery of his life. He keeps several motorcycles in running trim and commutes 30 miles each day across the mountains, from his ranch in Ojai to his museum office in Oxnard, aboard a glistening, custom-built Harley Davidson 1100 cc Softail. But he leaves little doubt about his opinion of Chandler's accomplishments in the profession that consumed his passion and energy for 50 years. He was 32. He incorporated the company as The Times Mirror Co. and, with the help of his future son-in-law, Harry Chandler, the papers circulation manager, crushed the competition. They backed selling the company to real estate investor Sam Zell, who took it private via a leveraged buyout in 2007, ending more than 100 years of the Chandler clan's involvement with the business. Otis Chandler built Goodreads in 2006 because he believed in social networking and wanted to see what his friends were reading. I suspect that she internalized some of the disdain that so many Chandlers felt towards the Buffums. Biden Not Confident Supreme Court Will Uphold Student Debt Cancellation, Celta Vigo Star Gabri Veiga Is Alerting Wealthy Teams In The Premier League, RFK Killer Sirhan Sirhan Denied Parole For 16th TimeReversing 2021 Decision, Wednesday, March 1. When the time came to fold the family's money-losing afternoon tabloid, the Mirror, the Chandlers cut a sweet deal: in return for closing the Mirror, which competed with the Hearst Corp.'s afternoon paper, the Chandlers got Hearst to shutter the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, the Times's morning rival. I wish I would have had the guts to go at it 100% from the start. Newsweek once described him as the Midas of California. In addition to his role in the Owens Valley affair, Harry Chandler was directly or indirectly involved with the creation of the Coliseum, Olvera Street, the Salton Sea, the Biltmore Hotel, Douglas Aircraft, Chinatown, the Hollywood Bowl, the Ambassador Hotel, Hollywoodland (and therefore the Hollywood sign), Caltech, the Auto Club of Southern California and Santa Anita Race Track. McDougal hints that Otis grew to resent his mother for using him in her wars with her in-laws, but he never examines how this might have shaped his behavior. In 1945, her husband became publisher of the Times, a position he held until he was succeeded by their son, Otis, in 1960. Privacy Policy Terms of Use Copyright 2006, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Last updated: 10/08/2009, MASTERPIECE Mystery! My city has Chandlers with their legacies and their fortunes, but we no longer have Their Times. When the water arrived in 1912, the land--once considered barren and useless--was worth millions. He also developed real estate and erected the famous Hollywood sign (which originally read "Hollywoodland") for one of his projects. But reaching that goal required drastic structural changes, Willes said. Otis Chandler is a famous Family Member. I, like you, felt the odd combination of pride, curiosity and shame for peeking into the family photos of Los Angeles' most prominent family. As young adults during the McCarthy Era, many members of this generation felt it was dangerous to speak out. he would look at me, shake his head and say, "I don't know who you are talking about." The daughter of a Long Beach department store magnate (and later mayor), she was not of the same class as the Chandlers, and her husbands siblings viewed her as an interloper. 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The site has since grown to nearly 5 million members who have added over 150 million books, completely by word of mouth. In 1708, he was chosen a member of Her Majesty's Council (at the time, the highest position a native could achieve) and was annually reelected until his death in 1727. In 1944, he handed the reins of the publishing empire to son Norman, who in turn passed it on to his son Otis in 1960. "This has been the greatest week of his life," says his friend John Thomas, referring to Chandler's meetings with the Tribune brass. Variety is a part of Penske Media Corporation. An obituary for a science fiction writer who won a . Some plans, such as expanding the transportation grid, were above-board; others, such as the infamous plot to con Owens Valley farmers out of their water (told here with Jerry Goldsmiths Chinatown score on the soundtrack), were not. The economic boom and the Jazz Age were over, and America began the period called the Great Depression. He was best known for being a Family Member. His descriptions become increasingly personal; you get the impression that hes getting back at colleagues and editors who once crossed him (for example, he describes former editor Shelby Coffey III as Nixonian without an explanation). Although not much is known about John Otis, his son, John Otis (generally referred to as "Judge Otis") was the first of the family to rise to provincial eminence. But that campaign is skimmed over in favor of a more general overview of the Chandler family as a bulwark of extreme right-wing politics, the sort that supported the anticommunist John Birch Society while also helping forge the career of Richard Nixon. Still, to me it seems ridiculous and pretentious for the Chandlers to have looked down on Dorothy. What can we learn? Almost immediately afterward, 8-by-10 photos of Chandler began showing up in the newsroom, posted on pillars and desks and bulletin boards. McDougal has lectured in journalism and creative writing at UCLA, Stanford, and the California State Universities at Fullerton and Long Beach. There is no more powerful thing in the world than an idea, and long-form books are the best conveyors of ideas. Under his watch, the L.A. Times opened international bureaus and hired on Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, at the same time buying several television station and the Newsday newspaper. "This trust is dearer than life itself." But he came close. Contact profile manager; View family tree; Problem with this page? Times Mirror, the company that the Chandler family had so brilliantly built for more than 100 years, began to fall apart. 2020 ideamensch. There is something mythic about Otis story. In a supreme irony, once Otis Chandler took charge in 1960 and directed the paper to drop its jingoistic, frankly dreadful writing in favor of classically mainstream American journalism, the Times . McDougal doesnt have much feel for psychological nuance, so his account of Dorothy Chandlers relationship with her son is one of the books major gaps. 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Jordan Meets Reporter at 'Creed III' Premiere Who 'Teased Him all the Time' in High School: 'I Was the Corny Kid, Right? For example, in my town we have a public garden named for its benefactor, Mrs. Park. The stock tanked, and the deal attracted the attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission. A year after graduating, he married Marilyn (Missy) Brant, '51, who shared his enthusiasm for sports and outdoor recreation. Most important, he insisted that the paper no longer function as the personal expression of his family. I agree! Be the first one to, Chandler Family: Olympic Tryouts, Weight lifting, USC v. UCLA, Mt. Whos the richest Family Member in the world. A 10-foot-tall Kodiak bear ("October 1985; Record Size; Alaskan Peninsula"), paws and claws extended, looms behind Chandler's head. Known as the General, Harrison Otis was a bully and a buffoon. The hole at the center of Privileged Son is Otis himself. While some major papers, most notably the New York Herald Tribune,decided to compete with the increasingly popular newsmagazines and television by adding lifestyle features and interpretive reporting, the Timesran reams of dull wire-service copy. Contact Information The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, CA 91108, Phone: (626) 405-2191; Email: reference@huntington.org, www.huntington.org Access-restricted-item true Addeddate The news shook Southern California like an earthquake: Los Angeles Times, family owned for 118 years, was being sold to Chicago-based Tribune Co. "I feel as if I was gut shot," said novelist and California chronicler John Gregory Dunne. Norman wanted to be a great man and a pillar of society, but he didn't quite have the inner fire to match that ambition. Furthermore, tensions started to surface within his extended family. My uncle John tells me that Buffie Chandler did attend my grandmother's funeral in 1977 (though she may have left before the service ended). I said, no, I feel fine. People often tell us they love Goodreads because they found so many great books to read, they read more now because of it, and they connected to really interesting readers. I wanted, he later said, to make them eat their bloody words. Working with two editors--Nick Williams and then William Thomas--he expanded the staff, created new sections and opened bureaus. The internet has completely changed the way we find and consume information in just 15 years, and I believe its just getting started. I think we have a pretty compelling product today, but in terms of offering a good answer to the question What should I read next? I think we are only at the tip of the iceberg. He spoke of doubling the Times's circulation to 2 million. The Chandlers, who controlled 24% of Times Mirror and majority voting rights, ended up with about 20% of Tribune Co.'s stock. The Milwaukee Bucks are trying to rediscover corner magic and weaponize the three-point shot in their offense. Related to the above, I think Dune is excellent, and relevant. Interview segments and archival selections are absolutely aces, as is Liev Schreibers narration. Information. In 1962, Times Mirror decided to go public, the first of the major family-owned papers to do so. Resides in Los Angeles, CA Metropolitan Area. He relinquished the title of editor in chief in 1985 and left the board of directors two years ago. When he died in 1944, he had accumulated more than 1.5 million acres, and The Times was one of the most profitable newspapers in the country. He laid the framework for Times Mirrors becoming a modern media conglomerate. Politicians and the police were there to protect their interests and, more than anything else, those interests revolved around the citys rapid growth. Suddenly, everything was different. Along with a passion for building websites, Otis is also a voracious reader. Perhaps he hadn't pushed the New York Times off its perch. Otis and Tom Johnson had understood this in a way that eluded their successors. First standards were set, then huge journalistic milestones were hit, and in the blink of an eye there was fiscal ruin, and a loss of ownership.What will we be left with? I grew up with ink in my blood. Otis Chandler and His Family A recorded phone conversation reveals former President Nixon's plan to investigate the Chandlers. Some seem certain it will revolutionize the world, while others point out its difficult or inaccurate responses. For something more modern, The Big Short is a book anyone who lived through the economic depression in 2008 should read. Otis Chandler, the family's last great newspaperman, is sitting across the table from me inside his Vintage Museum of Transportation and Wildlife in Oxnard. The city and the newspaper are so intertwined, Dennis McDougal points out in Privileged Son, his sprawling history of The Times, that its impossible to separate the two. Fiercely competitive, capable of engendering extraordinary loyalty, he also was self-absorbed, spoiled and a loner. Chandler, bright and hard-working, was thinking of becoming a doctor. "He didn't get any good press out of that. By the time he finished Stanford, Chandler was hooked on motorcycles, surfing, bodybuilding and hunting. Five years later, Otis unexpectedly stepped down as chairman, and for many the golden age was over. With a bellicose prose style that blended politics and passion with half-truths and full-blown fiction, McDougal writes, Harrison Gray Otis jammed his personal point of view into every inch of his staunchly Republican newspaper.. I sat wondering what my friends would think of this expose of their very private, incredibly wealthy family. She left seven children Mrs. Roger Goodan (Alice May), Mrs. Earle E. Crowe (Constance), Mrs. John J. Garland (Helen), Mrs. James G. Boswell (Ruth), Norman Chandler. He just wants to make it the best damned newspaper in the world -- and he'll want that until his dying day. But in fact, he keeps in close touch with his contacts at the paper and lives and breathes the daily vicissitudes of the Los Angeles Times. [1] Legacy edit] The community of Reseda, California, was originally named Marian, after Mrs. Chandler. "He never asked anybody, 'How does this work? By Otis own account, he had no plans to enter the family business when he was growing up. He was not properly worshipful of the center's acoustics and its Main Man, Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor Zubin Mehta. Buffum, my great-grandfather) were respected members of Long Beach society. 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