William Osgood Taylor II (July 19, 1932 – May 1, 2011) was an American

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and newspaper executive who served as

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

of ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' from 1978 to 1997, during which time the ''Globe'' was sold to

The New York Times Company The New York Times Company is an American mass media company that publishes ''The New York Times''. Its headquarters are in Manhattan, New York City. History The company was founded by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones in New York City. T ...

for $1.1 billion.

Biography

Taylor attended

Dexter School The Dexter Southfield School is an independent co-educational day school located in Brookline, Massachusetts, educating students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. Dexter Southfield was founded in 1926 as the Dexter School. In 2013 the ...

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...

, and St. Paul's School in

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third largest city in New Hampshire behind Manchester and Nashua. The village of ...

, before graduating from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1954. He then served two years in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, stationed in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. Taylor joined ''

'' at the urging of his father, publisher

William Davis Taylor William Davis Taylor (April 2, 1908 – February 19, 2002) was an American newspaper executive who was publisher of ''The Boston Globe'' from 1955 to 1977. Biography Taylor followed his paternal grandfather, Charles H. Taylor, and father, Willia ...

. After working in the

classified advertising Classified advertising is a form of advertising, particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals, which may be sold or distributed free of charge. Classified advertisements are much cheaper than larger display advertisements used ...

and promotions departments, he worked as a reporter before moving into management. Taylor was the fourth of five members of the Taylor family to run the ''Globe''; he became publisher upon his father's retirement at the end of 1977. During his time as publisher, Taylor helped broker the 1993 sale of the ''Globe'' to

, and the paper was awarded nine

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

s. Upon his own retirement in 1997, Taylor was succeeded as publisher by his second cousin

Benjamin B. Taylor Benjamin B. Taylor (born c. 1947) is an American former journalist and newspaper executive who served as publisher of ''The Boston Globe'' from 1997 to 1999, the fifth and final member of the Taylor family to oversee the ''Globe'' during a 126-yea ...

, and took the title of chairman emeritus. Taylor died in 2011 at his home in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

from

brain cancer A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondar ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, William O. 1932 births 2011 deaths Mass media people from Boston St. Paul's School (New Hampshire) alumni Harvard College alumni United States Army soldiers The Boston Globe people American newspaper publishers (people) Taylor family Deaths from brain tumor