Robert Terry McDonell (born August 1, 1944) is an editor, writer and publishing executive. Most recently, he is the author of
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founder Founder or Founders may refer to: Places *Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium * Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...

br>The Literary Hub
His memoir, ''The Accidental Life: An Editor's Notes on Writing and Writers'' was published by Knopf in 2016.

Early life and education

McDonell was born in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, the son of Irma Sophronia (née Nelson) and Robert Meynard McDonell. McDonell attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

and graduated from the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...

Magazine career

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

Editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

of the Time Inc. Sports Group. McDonell directed all editorial content and operations of the weekly magazine ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'', ''SI.com'', ''

GOLF Magazine ''Golf Magazine'' is a monthly golf magazine. It was started in April 1959 by Universal Publishing and Distributing, who sold it to Times Mirror in 1972. Time Inc. acquired it in 2000. It was acquired by Howard Milstein in 2018. It was the world' ...

'' and ''GOLF.com'', as well as '' SI Kids'', ''FanNation.com'' and international editions including SI China, SI South Africa, and SI India. He was hired as ''SIs 8th

Managing Editor A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication. United States In the United States, a managing edito ...

of ''Sports Illustrated'' in February 2002. Under his leadership, SI Digital's net revenues jumped 180% in 2006 and 587% over three years. 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 and a member of ''

Adweek ''Adweek'' is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1979. ''Adweek'' covers creativity, client–agency relationships, global advertising, accounts in review, and new campaigns. During this time, it has cover ...

''’s Magazine Executive Team of the Year. In 2009, McDonell created the first magazine for the iPad. Before moving to ''SI,'' McDonell led the conversion of Wenner Media's ''US Magazine'' to ''US Weekly''. He came to Wenner Media to edit ''Men's Journa''l, and had also worked at Wenner launching ''Outside Magazine'' in 1977, and editing ''Rolling Stone'' in the early 1980s''.'' He left ''Rolling Stone'' for ''Newsweek'' (1983-85), where he was an AME and also created ''Newsweek Access ("THe Magazine of Life and Technology').".'' McDonell was the founding editor of both ''Rocky Mountain'' ''Magazine'' (1979) and ''SMART'' (1984-90) magazines. As the editor-in-chief of ''Esquire'' (1990-93), 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. McDonell's magazines have been nominated for 29

National Magazine Awards The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

and received the award in 2003, 2005 and 2010. In 2012, McDonell was inducted into the

ASME The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...

Magazine Editors' Hall of Fame.

Writing

McDonell is also a novelist (''California Bloodstock'') and a poet (''Wyoming: The Lost Poems''). His memoir, ''The Accidental Life: An Editor's Notes on Writing and Writers'' was published by Knopf in 2016. He also wrote the video game ''Night Trap''

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"). McDonell appeared as himself on Saturday Night Live ("Prose and Cons") in 1981; and hosted the television talk show ''

Last Call In a bar, a last call (last orders) is an announcement made shortly before the bar closes for the night, informing patrons of their last chance to buy alcoholic beverages. There are various means to make the signal, like ringing a bell, flash ...

'' produced by

Brandon Tartikoff Brandon Tartikoff (January 13, 1949 – August 27, 1997) was an American television executive who was the president of NBC from 1981 to 1991. He was credited with turning around NBC's low prime time reputation with such hit series as ''Hill Stre ...

and MCA ((19904-95).“‘Call’ Grating,”

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

Service and awards

McDonell serves as president of the board of directors of

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Philip ...

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

Personal life

McDonell lives in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

with his wife, Stacey Hadash. With his first wife, Joan Raffeld, he is the father of novelist

Nick McDonell Robert Nicholas McDonell (born February 18, 1984) is an American writer who has worked as a journalist, screenwriter, producer, novelist and researcher. Personal life McDonell was born in 1984 in New York City and raised there. McDonell attende ...

and actor

Thomas McDonell Thomas Hunter Campbell McDonell (born May 2, 1986) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Finn Collins on the CW post-apocalyptic series '' The 100''. Early life McDonell was born and raised in Manhattan, New York, and attended boar ...

References

External links

“Sports Illustrated Is Expected to Get an Outsider as Editor,”

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

. By David Carr. February 5, 2002.
“A Mr. Fix-It For Sports Illustrated,”
Media Life Magazine. By Carl Bialik. February, 2002.
“Terry McDonell is Mr. Fix-It, But Can He Fix Wenner’s Folly?”
Media Life Magazine. By Maureen Garry. September, 1999. {{DEFAULTSORT:McDonell, Terry 1944 births American magazine editors Living people