{"id":583,"date":"2009-06-20T13:28:29","date_gmt":"2009-06-20T18:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richestmanintown.com\/?page_id=583"},"modified":"2013-12-13T07:54:43","modified_gmt":"2013-12-13T12:54:43","slug":"randy-jones-future-obituary","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.richestmanintown.com\/blog\/randy-jones-future-obituary\/","title":{"rendered":"Randy Jones\u2019s Future Obituary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author, publisher and media executive W. Randall \u201cRandy\u201d Jones<\/strong> died suddenly last Tuesday after a long and, some would say, large life.\u00a0 He was born in Carrollton, Georgia<\/strong> on October 6, 1955, the second son of Sarah (Harwell) Jones<\/strong> and C. W. Jones<\/strong>. Jones spent his formative years on his parents\u2019 farm just north of the city of Carrollton at 43 C. W. Jones Road, but it was far from his small town roots that he made his greatest impact. He was best known as the author of the best-selling book The Richest Man in Town: <\/em>The Twelve Commandments of Wealth<\/em>, a book that took him all across America interviewing the most successful self-made man or woman in 100 unique American towns.\u00a0 He was quoted in The New York Times<\/em> as saying, \u201cWriting The Richest Man in Town<\/em> was the most fun thing I have ever done\u2014it was also the hardest.\u201d\u00a0 Reportedly, it took him over two years to lasso and ultimately interview some of America\u2019s greatest success stories in all 50 states.<\/p>\n

To Jones, the journey was the reward, however.\u00a0 This endeavor allowed him to feel that he had shared some of the greatest success wisdom\u2014perhaps the most extensive collection ever assembled\u2014with future generations. When the book was published in 2009,\u00a0 he said, half in jest, \u201cI can die now, because I have achieved my life\u2019s work.\u201d\u00a0 Jones was also the author of The Greatest Stock Picks of All Time<\/em>, the founder of Worth<\/em><\/strong> magazine, the CEO of Worth Media, and was the publisher of Esquire<\/em><\/strong> magazine. As proud as he was of his career, he was fond of saying that his three sons, Cole, Chancellor<\/strong>, and Charles<\/strong>, were his proudest accomplishment and life\u2019s greatest reward.<\/p>\n

Jones left his hometown of Carrollton in 1974 to matriculate at the University of Georgia<\/strong> in Athens. The experience of a large university broadened his outlook, and Jones began to see a wealth of opportunities and the promise of a bigger life. He honed his interpersonal and social skills, joining the Kappa Sigma fraternity. He would later recall that it was at the Kappa Sig house that his future wife, then Connie Cole<\/strong>, gave him a football jersey with the nickname \u201cRover\u201d on the back, a not-so-subtle reminder that he was paying more attention to the needs of others than to those of his girlfriend. It was only one of many times, Jones said, that his wife helped give him a sense of perspective on the important things in life. Jones enjoyed his experiences in the Henry W. Grady School of Journalism<\/strong>, from which he received his A.B.J. degree in 1977. His journalism education left a strong impression on him, and even as the digital age took the world of legacy media by storm, he always believed in the power of the written word. During the summers of his college years, Jones worked as a camp counselor at the Rock Eagle 4-H Center in Eatonton, Georgia and spent his last college summer, in 1976, in Washington, D.C., working at the National 4-H Center, where he acquired a reputation as a whiz at guiding tour groups of young 4-H participants through the halls of Congress and the confusing, Lafayette-designed streets of Washington D.C. Jones\u2019s favorite tour to lead, however, was to the Library of Congress, a foreshadowing of what the future would hold\u2014in 1996, while CEO of publishing company Worth Media, he acquired Civilization<\/em><\/strong>, the magazine of the Library of Congress.<\/p>\n

In his senior year at the University of Georgia, the journalism major was not at all sure what to make of his life. In a chance campus interview that he thought would be just for practice, he was offered a job at Atlanta\u2019s Silver Bear<\/strong> paper company. Without searching further, or exploring alternative opportunities in journalism, he accepted the job. Jones was always attracted to a certain degree of eccentricity, and in the owner of the company, Donald B. McKay<\/strong> (formerly Metzger), he found an intriguing first boss. The job, selling paper products to colleges and universities all across America, gave him a company car, a travel per diem, and the opportunity to hone his sales skills while seeing the country. What could be better, he thought, than traveling to America\u2019s college campuses?\u00a0 He became the company\u2019s top salesman and was promoted to vice president and director of marketing and sales. In his new capacity, he recruited a group of new graduates from his alma mater later that year. At the time, no women had ever worked in a sales capacity for the company, so Jones made sure that half of the new hires were female\u2014a practice he continued throughout his career. He and his new team tripled Silver Bear\u2019s sales, and his success led a headhunter to call him about a job with 13-30 Corporation<\/strong>, a little-known company in Knoxville, Tennessee, that published magazines for the college and young adult market.<\/p>\n

Hoping to finally be able to use his journalism degree, Jones took the job, commuting to the company\u2019s headquarters in Knoxville from his home in Atlanta several days a week. Deciding that he did not wish to be poor, however, Jones sold advertising for these magazines rather than write for them. In late 1979, his partners at 13-30 bought the venerable Esquire<\/em> after the magazine had fallen into financial difficulties under the directorship of legendary editor Clay Felker<\/strong>. (Coincidentally, Felker became Jones\u2019s great friend and next-door neighbor on East 57th Street eleven years later.) The purchase of Esquire<\/em> thrilled Jones, because it was the first magazine he ever subscribed to as a small-town boy far from the creative canyons of New York City. \u201cEsquire<\/em> was my window into a more sophisticated and erudite world as a young boy growing up in Carrollton, Georgia,\u201d he told the New York Times<\/em> upon his elevation to the job of publisher while still in his twenties.<\/p>\n

Jones remembered the \u201980s as one of\u00a0 most special decades of his life: He bought his first house in the prestigious Buckhead neighborhood of northwest Atlanta, just down the street from the Governor\u2019s Mansion, at 22. In 1980, at 24 years of age, he married his childhood sweetheart, Connie Cole. One year later, the Joneses moved to Grosse Point, Michigan, so that Randy could run the Midwest offices of Esquire<\/em>. Their first son, Cole Jones<\/strong>, was born in 1983 and spent the first two years of his life in a rather grand 10,000-square-foot English manor\u2013style home on the private gated street of Beverly Road in Grosse Pointe Farms. The home, originally built for the Chapin family (the family that founded American Motors), had stunning architectural details, but needed massive renovation, which the Joneses took on with great gusto. The estate soon became affectionately known as \u201cthe Party Palace,\u201d as the young couple brought their own brand of southern hospitality to their new town. Randy loved managing Esquire<\/em> out of his office at the towering Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit. He and Connie found particular pleasure in developing life-long friendships there. They capped off their happy stint in Grosse Pointe with a surprise 29th birthday party Connie threw for Randy aboard a yacht sailing from the exclusive Grosse Point Club, casually dubbed the \u201cLittle Club\u201d by its members (only 100 were allowed at any given time). It was the final party in the town they had come to love and a bittersweet farewell, as the Joneses were preparing to move to New York. Their love for Detroit and Grosse Pointe came as no surprise to Randy, though it did to his father. When Jones had informed him he was moving to Detroit five years earlier, his father memorably told his middle son, \u201cI\u2019d rather have a daughter in a whorehouse than a son in Detroit!\u201d Fortunately, the elder Jones had no daughters. \u201cFor once in his life,\u201d Randy said, \u201cDad was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 1980s were a period when Esquire <\/em>was experiencing one of the most heralded turnarounds in the history of publishing. It was also a time when, Jones\u2019s wife recalls, he was working 18 hours a day and traveling constantly. While the mid-\u201980s were a time of major dedication to his career, they were also a time that defined Jones as a leader, a publisher\u2014and a well-dressed gentleman. He famously looked the part of the publisher of America\u2019s premier men\u2019s lifestyle magazine\u2014one media maven of the time remarked, \u201cHe looks like he\u2019s from central casting\u201d\u2014but he lived it, as well. Jones was well cast in his role at Esquire<\/em> and he loved the job.<\/p>\n

While he was working hard, however, Jones also showed a capacity for enjoying life and the rewards that came with his position, a joie de vivre that informed his second book, The Richest Man in Town<\/em>. He enjoyed traveling to the fashion shows in Milan and Paris, and came to love the cuisine as he dined in the best restaurants in Italy and France. His family affectionately recalled his enthusiasm for \u201cthe latest toys,\u201d and his regular attendance at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and the National Automobile Dealers Association meetings each year. His greatest appreciation during the Esquire<\/em> years, however, was reserved for the access it afforded him to many of the best and brightest writers of the time\u2014among them Gay Talese, Tom Wolfe, Norman Mailer<\/strong>, and Truman Capote<\/strong>.\u00a0 He also took particular cultural enrichment from trips to Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan. In 1988, the Henry W. Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia, honored Jones with its highest award, the John E. Drewry Award for distinguished achievement in journalism.\u00a0 He was again said to be stunned when the University of Georgia presented him with the Alumni Merit Award\u2014the highest honor awarded to an alumnus\u2014in 2002.<\/p>\n

As the youngest publisher of a major magazine in history, Jones often reveled in how he had found his \u201cperfect pitch\u201d in the publishing business. He remembered proudly the 50th-anniversary issue of Esquire<\/em>, titled \u201c50 Who Made a Difference,\u201d in which the magazine celebrated the 50 people who over the past 50 years had most changed the way Americans live life and perceive life.\u00a0 It was a record-shattering issue, with more than 700 ad pages, making it the most profitable issue of Esquire<\/em> in history. He credited his many friends and colleagues who were so important to Esquire\u2019s success\u2014Phillip Moffit, Chris Whittle, Alan Greenberg, Lee Eisenberg, Martha Mosko, Mike Mulhearn, Alison Parks, Cheryl MacLachlan, Jack Jackson, Bill Longley, Cindy Still,<\/strong> and Dan O\u2019Shea<\/strong>, to name but a few.<\/p>\n

Then the divorce happened\u2014Chris Whittle and Phillip Moffitt, the two controlling owners of Esquire<\/em> and 13-30 Corporation, parted company. In simplest terms, Whittle took control of 13-30 and Moffitt kept Esquire<\/em>. Jones, who was having the time of his life as publisher, remained at the magazine with Moffit. Then, in late 1986, in order to take advantage of changing corporate tax rates, Phillip Moffit and the Esquire Magazine Group board, including Lord Harmsworth,<\/strong> of Associated Newspapers of London, decided the time was right to sell the magazine.\u00a0 They hired Bruce Wasserstein<\/strong>\u2014known as \u201cBid-\u2019Em-Up Bruce\u201d among industry insiders\u2014of Wasserstein-Perella, the hot M&A shop of the 1980s, to find the perfect home for the magazine.\u00a0 The winner was the Hearst Corporation, owned by the trust of the late legendary newspaper publisher, William Randolph Hearst.<\/strong> By this time, Hearst had become much more than a newspaper publisher; they were the second-largest magazine company in the country, behind Time Inc. Esquire<\/em> added a shot of testosterone to Hearst\u2019s stable of esteemed magazines, such as Cosmopolitan, Town and Country, Good Housekeeping,<\/em> and Harper\u2019s Baazar<\/em>. Jones happily stayed with the magazine, continuing to run it for four years after the sale to Hearst. He liked working for George Green, Gil Mauer<\/strong>, and Frank Bennack<\/strong>, and insisted that Frank Bennack was the smartest man and best public speaker he had ever met.\u00a0 Jones often commented to his colleague Alison Parks<\/strong>, \u201cSomeday I want to be that good!\u201d He confided to many, however, that he never felt he achieved that goal of beating Frank Bennack in the speaking department. During that time, howver, he did achieve something far more important: on February 6, 1989, he became a father for the second time when William Chancellor Jones<\/strong> was born.<\/p>\n

The birth of his son, six weeks premature, prompted some soul-searching for Jones. As much as he had enjoyed his time at Hearst and as much as he still loved Esquire<\/em>, he was approaching his mid-thirties, and the entrepreneurial spirit was gripping him more strongly each day. Eleven years at Esquire<\/em> was a long time, and upon receiving his share of the proceeds from the sale of the magazine he found himself thinking about a new kind of publication. As he searched for his own investment answers and solutions, he found that most money and investing magazines were dull, dry, gray, boring, and either too complicated or overly simplistic.\u00a0 Jones said at that time, \u201cI had an epiphany. There has to be a place for a magazine about money that brings a little Hollywood to Wall Street, a little sex to money.\u201d He often asked, \u201cWho says an investment magazine has to be boring?\u201d<\/p>\n

Just as these ideas were swirling in his mind, Ned Johnson<\/strong> and Jim Curvey<\/strong> of Fidelity Investments entered the scene. In 1991, Jones knew Fidelity Investments as the manager of his 401(k) plan, but little else. That changed when Bill Holodnak<\/strong>, president of the Boston-based headhunting firm J. Robert Scott, called and asked Jones if he would be interested in running a small publishing company owned by the venture capital arm of the world\u2019s largest mutual fund company, headquartered in Boston.<\/p>\n

TO BE CONTINUED: Watch for the founding of Worth<\/em>; the birth of Charles Edwin Jones<\/strong>; the purchase of Civilization<\/em> magazine; the founding of The American Benefactor<\/em>; the test of Equity<\/em> magazine; the dot-com bubble and Worth.com; buying out Fidelity; The Greatest Stock Picks of All Time,<\/em> The Richest Man in Town,<\/em> and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author, publisher and media executive W. Randall \u201cRandy\u201d Jones died suddenly last Tuesday after a long and, some would say, large life.\u00a0 He was born in Carrollton, Georgia on October 6, 1955, the second son of Sarah (Harwell) Jones and C. W. Jones. Jones spent his formative years on his parents\u2019 farm just north of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.richestmanintown.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/583"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.richestmanintown.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.richestmanintown.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.richestmanintown.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.richestmanintown.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.richestmanintown.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":850,"href":"http:\/\/www.richestmanintown.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/583\/revisions\/850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.richestmanintown.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}