Terry McDonell
McDonell at Fortune Brainstorm TECH, July 2011
Born (1944-08-01) August 1, 1944 (age 79)
Norfolk, Virginia, United States
OccupationMagazine editor
ChildrenNick McDonell
Thomas McDonell
Parents
  • Robert Meynard McDonell (father)
  • Irma Sophronia Nelson (mother)

Robert Terry McDonell (born August 1, 1944) is an American editor, writer and publishing executive.[1] He is a co-founder of the Literary Hub website that launched in 2015. His memoir, The Accidental Life: An Editor's Notes on Writing and Writers, was published by Knopf in 2016, and he is also the author of Irma: The education of a Mother's Son (2023).

Early life and education

McDonell was born in Norfolk, Virginia, the son of Irma Sophronia (née Nelson) and Robert Meynard McDonell.[2]

McDonell attended the University of California, Berkeley, and graduated from the University of California, Irvine.

Magazine career

McDonell served as editor of Time Inc. Sports Group from 2006 to 2012.

As Editor of the Time Inc. Sports Group, McDonell directed all editorial content and operations of the weekly magazine Sports Illustrated, SI.com,[3] GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com,[4] as well as SI Kids, FanNation.com,[5] and international editions including SI China, SI South Africa, and SI India.

He was hired as SI's 8th Managing Editor of Sports Illustrated in February 2002. Under his leadership, SI Digital's net revenues jumped 180% in 2006 and 587% over three years.[6] That digital growth along with newsstand sales and reader satisfaction scores for the weekly were among the reasons McDonell was named one of Sports Business Journal’s 50 Most Influential People in Sports Business in 2007[7] and a member of Adweek’s Magazine Executive Team of the Year.[8][9]

In 2009, McDonell created the first magazine for the iPad.[10][11]

Before moving to SI, McDonell led the conversion of Wenner Media's US Magazine to US Weekly.[12] He came to Wenner Media to edit Men's Journal, and had also worked at Wenner, launching Outside Magazine in 1977, and editing Rolling Stone in the early 1980s.[13] He left Rolling Stone for Newsweek (1983–85), where he was an AME and also created Newsweek Access ("The Magazine of Life and Technology").[14][15]

McDonell was the founding editor of both Rocky Mountain Magazine (1979) and SMART (1984-90) magazines.[16]

As the editor-in-chief of Esquire magazine from 1990 to 1993, McDonell also launched Esquire Sportsman and Esquire Gentleman. After Esquire, he was editor-in-chief and publisher of Sports Afield, which he relaunched as an upscale hunting and fishing magazine.[17]

McDonell's magazines have been nominated for 29 National Magazine Awards and received the award in 2003, 2005 and 2010.

In 2012, McDonell was inducted into the ASME Magazine Editors' Hall of Fame.[18][19]

Writing

McDonell is also a novelist (California Bloodstock) and a poet (Wyoming: The Lost Poems[20]). His memoir, The Accidental Life: An Editor's Notes on Writing and Writers was published by Knopf in 2016.[21] A second memoir, Irma: The education of a Mother's Son, was published by HarperCollins in 2023. He also wrote the video game Night Trap.[22]

Television and film

As a screenwriter he wrote for Miami Vice (episodes "Back in the World" and "Over the Line"); and China Beach (episode "Waiting for Beckett").[23]

McDonell appeared as himself on Saturday Night Live ("Prose and Cons") in 1981;[24] and hosted the television talk show Last Call produced by Brandon Tartikoff and MCA ((19904-95).[25]

Service and awards

McDonell serves as president of the board of directors of The Paris Review Foundation.[26]

Since 2016 McDonell's papers have been collected at The Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas.[27]

Personal life

McDonell lives in Manhattan with his wife, Stacey Hadash. With his first wife, Joan Raffeld, he is the father of novelist Nick McDonell and actor Thomas McDonell.

References

  1. ^ Kavanagh, Jerry (March 26, 2007), "Terry McDonell: Editor, Sports Illustrated Group", Sports Business Journal.
  2. ^ Johnson, Curt (1988). Who's who in U.S. writers, editors & poets, Volume 1. December Press. ISBN 0913204218.
  3. ^ "sportsillustrated.cnn.com". sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  4. ^ golf.com
  5. ^ "fannation.com". fannation.com. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  6. ^ “Terry McDonell,” Folio Magazine. April 2, 2007.
  7. ^ “How They Stack Up,” Sports Business Journal. December 17, 2007.
  8. ^ “Special Report: A Winning Doubleheader,” Adweek. March 5, 2007.
  9. ^ National Magazine Awards Database Magazine Publishers of America
  10. ^ "It's no Newsweek for Terry McDonell". New York Post. October 21, 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  11. ^ Carr, David (February 1, 2010). "To Deliver, iPad Needs Media Deals". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  12. ^ Carr, David (February 5, 2002). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Sports Illustrated Is Expected to Get an Outsider as Editor". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  13. ^ Carr, David (February 5, 2002). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Sports Illustrated Is Expected to Get an Outsider as Editor". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  14. ^ Zito, Tom (October 6, 2011). "Steve Jobs: 1984 Access Magazine Interview". The Daily Beast. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  15. ^ Carr, David (February 5, 2002). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Sports Illustrated Is Expected to Get an Outsider as Editor". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  16. ^ “The Accidental Life: An Editor's Notes on Writing and Writers,” Amazon.
  17. ^ "Terry Mcdonell Elected to Magazine Editors' Hall of Fame". www.asme.media. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  18. ^ "TERRY MCDONELL ELECTED TO MAGAZINE EDITORS' HALL OF FAME". www.asme.media. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  19. ^ "Tribute Video for Terry McDonell, Time Inc. Sports Group Editor | Sports Illustrated". Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  20. ^ "Wyoming: The Lost Poems". Goodreads. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  21. ^ Garner, Dwight (July 19, 2016). "Review: In 'The Accidental Life,' Golfing on LSD Is Just Part of an Editor's Job". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  22. ^ “Night Trap” at Moby Games
  23. ^ "Terry McDonell - IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  24. ^ "SNL Transcripts: 10/03/81: "Prose and Cons" - SNL Transcripts Tonight". October 8, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  25. ^ “‘Call’ Grating,” Entertainment Weekly.
  26. ^ "The Elegant Variation: Plimpton Prize". Marksarvas.blogs.com. March 28, 2007. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  27. ^ "A Life in Magazines: Terry McDonell Donates His Archives to the Briscoe". September 29, 2016.

External links

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