News organizations and titles: 57 years with Crain Communications: chairman, 1964-73; president, 1916-64; head of a business-writing news service for several years prior to 1916; staff writer, city editor and sports editor, Louisville Herald, 1904-date unknown.
Legacy: He founded what is now Crain Communications, home to 30 publications, including Business Insurance and Advertising Age, plus such regional publications as Crain's Chicago Business and Crain's New York Business. His column, "Rough Proofs," ran in Ad Age for 35 years under the byline Copy Cub.
Journalistic progeny: Keith Crain, Rance Crain, George Lazarus and James Brady.
Personal: Born Nov. 19, 1885, in Lawrenceburg, Ky; died Dec. 15, 1973, in Chicago; founder of the National Association of Industrial Advertisers; director, Magazine Publishers Association; president, National Conference of Business Paper Editors, 1929; member, American Business Press; member, Chicago Business Publications Association; and member, Chicago Industrial Advertisers Association.
Family: His wife, Gertrude Crain, who served as chairman after Mr. Crain's death, died in 1996; two sons, Rance, president of Crain Communications and Keith, chairman.
Awards: Citation from the Chicago Federated Advertising Club, 1955; named one of the "foremost contributors to business publishing" by the Chicago Business Publications Association, 1962; honored by Dentsu Advertising, Tokyo, Japan, for his work in the international field, 1962; elected posthumously to the Advertising Hall of Fame, 1975.
Education: Centre College in Kentucky, master's degree in English.
What he has said about himself: "In starting my own publications, while in most cases I handled a good deal of editorial as well as advertising affairs, the editorial objective was to serve the reader, and the advertiser got the benefit in terms of readership that enabled him to tell his sales story effectively. I've always regarded myself primarily as an editor and reporter and writer, but I added salesmanship just because I had to."
Home run stories or accomplishments: In 1916, while in Kentucky, he launched the publishing company's first magazine, Hospital Management. One month later he started Class, now known as Business Marketing, a specialized paper for business-to-business marketers. Later that year, he moved Crain's to Chicago. In 1953, he started the monthly, Advertising Requirements, whose name was changed to Advertising & Sales Promotion in 1961 and became a biweekly publication in 1972. In 1966, he started Marketing Insights, and the next year Business Insurance. He bought Automotive News in 1971 and began Pensions & Investments in 1973.
What he made news or headlines for: When Advertising Age debuted in 1930, critics questioned whether another advertising publication was needed, and especially one based in Chicago. The ABP Crain Award was established by a grant from the G.D. Crain Jr. Foundation and is awarded each year to an individual responsible for editorial excellence in the business press.
What others have said about him: Longtime Advertising Age editor Sid Bernstein: "He had an enormous capacity for work and a relatively low tolerance for idling or chitchat, so he went at a furious clip all day long. He knew everyone in the business publishing field and the field of marketing to business and industry, an arena in which he (was) among the important founding fathers.
"But to me, his most solid contribution to the business world was embodied in his firm belief in what I choose to call 'the editorial viewpoint,' the constant desire to be of genuine service to the reader of his publications, to provide honest mental nourishment for them, to help them do a better job and thereby to provide a more useful, vital, important vehicle for advertisers.