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Martin Conroy, Fabled Direct Marketing Copywriter, Dies

Martin Conroy, an advertising executive who wrote a two-page subscription pitch for The Wall Street Journal that was used for 28 years and is considered a classic in the direct-marketing industry, died Tuesday at 84. "It's the "Hamlet," the "Iliad," the "Divine Comedy" of direct-mail letters," says James R. Rosenfield, a direct-marketing consultant.

Conroy's masterwork began: "On a beautiful late spring afternoon, 25 years ago, two young men graduated from the same college. They were very much alike, these two young men. Both had been better-than-average students, both were personable and both--as young college graduates are--were filled with ambitious dreams for the future."

As the gripping story turns out, one of the men becomes president of a Midwestern manufacturer, while the other only gets as far as managing a small department at the same company. It was strongly implied, but never directly stated, that the top guy owed his success to reading the Journal.

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