Benjamin Brooks Thomas (November 28, 1931 – February 5, 2010) was an American lawyer and executive of
Harper & Row. He was the only child of Walter Horstmann Thomas, a Philadelphia Architect, and Ruth Sterling Boomer.
Thomas joined Harper & Row in 1968.
Brooks Thomas married Kiono K (Tucciarone) Thomas on October 7, 2004.
Early career
Thomas graduated from
Yale in 1953 and received his law degree from
Yale Law School in 1956. Afterwards he served as an intelligence officer on the for the
U.S. Navy.
After leaving the Navy, Thomas joined
Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam & Roberts Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam & Roberts was a prominent New York City law firm that traced its origins to a law partnership formed there in 1868. It merged with the San Francisco-based law firm Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro in 2001. The merged firm subse ...
, now known as Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.
After leaving Winthrop, Thomas joined Harper & Row.
Harper & Row
At Harper & Row Thomas served as vice president, CEO, president, and chief executive. During this time, Harper & Row sued ''
The Nation'' over its publication of President
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
's memoirs in
a case that challenged
fair use in
copyright law. Harper & Row prevailed before the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
.
Thomas was president of the
Association of American Publishers (as well as Harper & Row) in 1983 when that group voted to fund a revamped version of
American Book Awards, ending a four-year experiment on the
Academy Awards model. For 1984 the number of awards was cut from 27 to three.
[
"Publishing: New Life for American Book Awards", Edwin McDowell, ''The New York Times'', November 4, 1983, page C28. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2007).][
"11 Nominated for American Book Awards", Edwin McDowell, ''The New York Times'', October 18, 1984, page C25. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2007).]
Later life and death
After leaving Harper & Row, Thomas devoted himself to several charities. These included
Outward Bound, the educational organization that promotes self-discovery in the outdoors. He became a trustee of
Outward Bound USA in 1980, serving as its chairman from 1984 to 1987. He was a trustee of Outward Bound International from 1997 to 2003, and in 2000 he became a trustee of Outward Bound's Expeditionary Learning Schools. Thomas was also involved with Young Audiences, a national organization that provides arts programs to schools. Additionally, Thomas was chairman of the Vail Valley Institute, which holds seminars on public issues.
Brooks Thomas died in
San Diego from
complications of a
brain injury after a
fall that he had suffered several weeks earlier. At the time, he was on his way to
San Francisco to attend an Outward Bound board meeting.
References
1931 births
2010 deaths
Accidental deaths from falls
Accidental deaths in California
Yale Law School alumni
20th-century American lawyers
{{US-law-bio-stub