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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