Orvil Dryfoos

Orvil Dryfoos
Born	Orvil Eugene Dryfoos November 8, 1912
Died	May 25, 1963(1963-05-25)(aged 50)
Nationality	American
Education	B.A.Dartmouth College
Known for	publisher ofThe New York Times
Spouse	Marian Sulzberger
Children	Jacqueline Hays Dryfoos Greenspon Robert Ochs Dryfoos Susan Warms Dryfoos Selznick
Family	Arthur Hays Sulzberger(father-in-law) Arthur Ochs Sulzberger(brother-in-law)

Orvil Eugene Dryfoos(November 8, 1912 – May 25, 1963) was the publisher ofThe New York Timesfrom 1961 to his death. He entered theTimesfamily via his marriage toMarian Sulzberger,daughter of then-publisherArthur Hays Sulzberger.

Early life

Dryfoos was born to Jack A. Dryfoos and the former Florence Levi.The elder Dryfoos was a wealthy hosiery manufacturer who was also the treasurer of a paper novelty manufacturing company. Orvil Dryfoos attended theHorace Mann SchoolinNew York CityandDartmouth College.He majored in sociology and graduated with aBachelor of Artsdegree in 1934.

Upon graduation he began work as a runner onWall Streetat the firm Asiel & Co. In 1937 he moved to the firm Sydney Lewinson & Co. as a partner and purchased a seat on theNew York Stock Exchange.Dryfoos belonged toCongregation Emanu-El of New York.Dryfoos was prevented from serving inWorld War IIdue to a diagnosis of rheumatic heart disease. He worked instead for the New York Red Cross Chapter's blood donor committee through the war.

The New York Times

On July 8, 1941, he married Marian Sulzberger, daughter ofNew York Timespublisher Arthur Hays Sulzberger. His father-in-law had also married into the Ochs family who owned the paper. He was the husband ofAdolph Ochs's only child,Iphigene Ochs."I was sensible enough to marry the boss's daughter," Sulzberger told Dryfoos, "and you were too."

In 1942, Dryfoos left Wall Street to be groomed to leadThe New York Timesand he became a reporter on the local staff. Though he worked numerous assignments, he never earned a byline during his year on the writing staff. The next year he became assistant to the publisher. He had three children: Jacqueline Hays, (born May 8, 1943), Robert Ochs (November 4, 1944) and Susan Warms (November 5, 1946).

Dryfoos became a trustee of hisalma materDartmouth,a lay trustee ofFordham University,and trustee and executive committee member of theRockefeller Foundation,a director of the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau, a director of the Fifth Avenue Association, a director of the1964 New York World's Fair,and president of the company charity, The New York Times Foundation. He was awarded an honorary Master of Arts in 1957 from Dartmouth and an honorary Doctor of Laws in 1962 fromOberlin College.

In 1954 Dryfoos became a vice-president and director of the company. In 1957 he becameTimespresident and after Sulzberger suffered a stroke in 1958, Dryfoos became responsible for most of the paper's day-to-day operations. He officially became publisher on April 25, 1961, when Sulzberger stepped down.

Dryfoos immediately appointed veteran editorial board member, writer, and iconoclastJohn Bertram Oakeseditorial page editor. Another of Dryfoos's first orders of business was launching the Western Edition ofThe New York Times,which was announced on October 31, 1961.

Newspaper strike

The defining struggle of Dryfoos' tenure atThe Timeswas a lengthya massive newspaper strike,which began in late 1962 and brought the publishing industry of New York to its knees. The staff ofThe Timesdropped from 5,000 working personnel to only 900.

The stress of negotiations and continuing to produce as much of a paper as possible adversely affected Dryfoos's health, as he worked to resolve the strike.

The strike lasted for 114 days and at the time was identified as the costliest inTimeshistory. On March 31, 1963, the strikers returned to work. Dryfoos maintained cordial relations with strikers throughout the stoppage and greeted the staff with a letter stating, "It's good to see you back at work!"

Personal life

Dryfoos and his wife, the former Marian Sulzberger,had three children: Jacqueline Hays Dryfoos (born 1943), a psychotherapist divorced from Stuart Greenspon;Robert Ochs Dryfoos (born 1944), divorced from Katie Thomas; and Susan Warms Dryfoos (born 1946), married to Daniel Selznick, son of film producerDavid O. SelznickandIrene Mayer Selznick.

Death

Following the protracted, and draining, 112-day newspaper strike of 1962-63, Dryfoos went to Puerto Rico to recover, but while there he checked into a hospital. He returned to New York and immediately went toColumbia Presbyterian Medical Center.He died there on May 25, 1963, from heart failure at the age of 50.

Dryfoos's funeral atCongregation Emanu-El of New Yorkwas attended by many notable residents of New York City, including New York City mayorRobert F. Wagner, Jr.,Columbia University presidentGrayson L. Kirkand later long-time New York District AttorneyRobert M. Morgenthau.Many members of the Rockefeller family were there, including New York GovernorNelson Rockefeller,Lincoln CenterchairmanJohn D. Rockefeller III,andChase Manhattan BankpresidentDavid Rockefeller.Many of his rival publishers attended: Hearst Newspapers editor in chiefWilliam Randolph Hearst, Jr.,Newhouse publisherSamuel Irving Newhouse, Sr.,New York PostpublisherDorothy Schiff,CBSpresidentFrank Stanton,andTime Inc.chairmanAndrew Heiskell(in 1965, Heiskell married Dryfoos's widow, Marian).James Reston,the Washington correspondent and future executive editor ofThe New York Timeswho was also a close friend of Dryfoos, gave the eulogy. Reston said that Dryfoos "wore his life away" during the strike and "when the strike was over he finally slipped away to the hospital and never came back."

He was succeeded as publisher byArthur Ochs "Punch" Sulzberger,the son of Arthur Hays Sulzberger, and younger brother of Marian Sulzberger Dryfoos.