Thayer Hobson

Francis Thayer Hobson (September 4, 1897 - October 19, 1967) was President and in 1958 Chairman of the Board of William Morrow and Company.cite web |url=http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/research/fa/hobson.bio.html |title=Thayer Hobson, 1897-1967 |accessdate=2008-06-24 |quote= |publisher=University of Texas |accessdate=2008-06-24 |]

Early years

He had a brother Henry Wise Hobson, Jr. who became a Bishop in the Episcopal Church, and a sister Eleanor Whiteside Hobson (1893-1986) who married George Miner MacKenzie. Thayer attended Yale University but left to join the French army during World War I. In 1917 he served as a machine gunner for the American Expeditionary Force but was wounded and was sent home to recuperate in 1918. He returned to Yale University, and he worked as the business manager for the Yale Daily News. His fellow Yale students included Henry R. Luce. Hobson graduated Yale in 1920 then he worked as an English teacher at Westminster School and at Yale College. From 1922 to 1924 he did postgraduate work at Yale. In 1925 he divorced his first wife. In 1925-1926 he went to Paris to study at the Sorbonne. His second wife was Priscilla Harriet Fansler, who after their divorce married Alger Hiss.

William Morrow and Company

When William Morrow died in 1931, Hobson bought control of the William Morrow and Company and made himself president. While at Morrow, Hobson was the publisher of Erle Stanley Gardner, who wrote the Perry Mason series. In 1958 he became Chairman of the Board. On August 25, 1960, his daughter married Joel C. Estes. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Thayer Hobson, Briarcliff 1959, Becomes Bride. Has 8 Attendants at Wedding in St. James' to Joel C. Estes. |url= |quote= |publisher=New York Times |date= |accessdate=2008-06-24 ] On June 24, 1962 Peter W. Hobson married Diana Ferris. She was a student at Yale University. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Peter W. Hobson And Miss Ferris Wed in Navesink. 12 Attend Bride at Her Marriage in Jersey to Student at Yale. |url= |quote=All Saints Memorial Protestant Episcopal Church was the setting here this afternoon for the marriage of Miss Diana Ferris. ... He is the son of Francis Thayer Hobson of Bedding, Conn., and the late Mrs, Isabelle Garrabrants Hobson. The Right Rev. Henry Wise Hobson, retired Bishop of ... |publisher=New York Times |date=June 24, 1962 |accessdate=2008-06-24 ]

Death

Hobson died on October 19, 1967. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Thayer Hobson, Publisher Dies. Board Chairman of William Morrow & Co., Dies at 70. |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60D13F6395F107B93C2AB178BD95F438685F9 |quote=Thayer Hobson, who was president of William Morrow Co., book publishers, for 27 years until he became chairman of the board in 1958, died yesterday at Nix Memorial Hospital, San Antonio, Tex., after a long illness. He was 70 years old and lived at the Deer Ledge Ranch, Comfort, Tex. |publisher=New York Times |date=October 20, 1967 |accessdate=2008-06-24 ]

References