Lawrence Taishoff, the former publisher of Broadcasting magazine, and son of Sol Taishoff, the founder of the magazine that eventually became Broadcasting & Cable, passed away on Wednesday morning in Washington, D.C. after a long, debilitating illness. He was 73.
Until a recent stay at the Washington Hospital Center, he had been living in Naples, Fla. He also maintained a home in suburban Washington.
He joined the magazine in 1958 "as a kid out of Duke University," said Don West, formerly the editor of Broadcasting, who recalls that his father put him through much the the same paces as other staffers. "He did everything," West recalled. "Almost the first memory I have of him was proofreading [the pages] at the plant on Friday night. But he only did that once. I did it every week."
Later, he became fascinated with the business side of the magazine. Sol preferred to stay involved in the journalistic side of Broadcasting, West said. Officially, Taishoff became president and publisher of the then-Washington based magazine in 1971.
"The first 25 years of the magazine were definitely Sol's and the next 25 were definitely Larry's." West said. Broadcasting & Cable celebrated its 75th anniversary this year.
"Larry agreed with his dad that [success] all begins with editorial and he always believed it," West said. "As editor, when I had a dispute with advertising, he usually came down on my side."
In 1986, four years after his father died, he sold Broadcasting to Times Mirror for $75 million which was then thought to be a record price for a business publication. Times Mirror sold it Cahners (now Reed Business Information) in 1991.
At Duke, Taishoff had been a varsity swimmer and later donated money to the university to build a new aquatic center in his name. In more recent years, he was a major benefactor to the Library of American Broadcasting at the University of Maryland.
Visitors can pay respects at Joseph Gawler's & Sons funeral home, 5130 Wisconsin Avenue NW from 6-9 p.m. Thursday. His funeral will be there at noon on Friday. Taishoff will be interred at the Washington Hebrew Congregational Memorial Park, 1380 Alabama Ave., S.E in Washington.
Taishoff is survived by sons Rob, Randy and Brad and seven grandchildren.
