Bill Lane (publisher)

Bill Lane
United States Ambassador to Nauru
In office
December 6, 1985 – April 29, 1989
President Ronald Reagan
Preceded by Robert D. Nesen
Succeeded by Mel Sembler
United States Ambassador to Australia
In office
December 6, 1985 – April 29, 1989
President Ronald Reagan
Preceded by Robert D. Nesen
Succeeded by Melvin F. Sembler
Personal details
Born (1919-11-07)November 7, 1919
Des Moines, Iowa
Died July 31, 2010(2010-07-31) (aged 90)
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Jean Gimbel Lane
Alma mater Stanford University

Laurence William "Bill" Lane, Jr. (November 7, 1919 – July 31, 2010) was an American magazine publisher, diplomat, and philanthropist.

Life

Lane was born November 7, 1919, to Laurence William Lane (1890 – February 20, 1967) and Ruth Bell. His father was known as "Larry", so he was generally called "Bill".

In 1928, the family moved from Des Moines, Iowa where Larry Lane was advertising director for the Meredith Corporation (publisher of Better Homes and Gardens magazine) to California.[1] The Lanes owned and published Sunset Magazine.[2]

Bill Lane attended Stanford University and graduated in 1942. He was a member of the Stanford Chaparral. He married Donna Jean Gimbel in 1955.[3]

As their father phased himself out of the business, Bill took over the magazine publishing and brother Melvin (1922–2007) managed the book business.[4]

Lane was the first mayor and one of the founders of Portola Valley, California in 1964.[5] From 1975 to 1976, he served as US Ambassador-at-large and lived in Japan. From 1985 to 1989, he was appointed US Ambassador to Australia and Nauru.[6] Ronald Reagan knew Lane from their membership in the Los Rancheros Vistadores horseback riding club.[7][8] The Lane family donated to the reconstruction of the Stanford Memorial Church and other historic buildings after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.[9]

The Lane publishing business was sold to Time Warner in 1990. In March 1993 he was appointed an honorary officer of the Order of Australia for service to Australian-American relations.[10]

The Lanes sponsored an internship program at the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution.[11] In 2005 a donation to Stanford named the Center for the Study of the North American West after the family.[12] Also in 2005, Lane and his wife (who had graduated from Northwestern University in 1952), funded the Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance.[13]

Bill Lane died on July 31, 2010.[3] An additional $5 million endowment to Northwestern was announced in 2015.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Marion Softky (November 5, 2009). "Bill Lane turns 90 and is still going strong". The Almanac. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  2. ↑ Kevin Starr (1998). "A New Owner, A New Vision". Sunset magazine: a century of Western living, 1898-1998. Stanford University Libraries. ISBN 978-0-911221-17-6. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  3. 1 2 Dave Boyce. "So long to Bill Lane: Valley icon, publisher and philanthropist dies at age 90". The Almanac. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  4. ↑ Marion Softky (August 8, 2007). "Obituary: Sunset's Mel Lane helped save coastlines and open spaces". The Almanac. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  5. ↑ David Boyce (August 15, 2007). "Portola Valley's Bill and Jean Lane honored for their philanthropy". The Almanac. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  6. ↑ "L. W. Lane, Jr.". Council of American Ambassadors web site. 2004. Archived from the original on January 4, 2007. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  7. ↑ Ronald Reagan; Kiron K. Skinner; Annelise Graebner Anderson; Martin Anderson (2003). Reagan: a life in letters. Simon and Schuster. p. 121. ISBN 978-0-7432-1966-2.
  8. ↑ Jane Knoerle (June 16, 2004). "Reagan and Lane: They rode the range together". The Almanac. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  9. ↑ "Bill Lane, Stanford benefactor and Sunset publisher, dead at". Stanford Report. August 2, 2010. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Lane, Laurence William", It's an Honour web site, Australia Government, retrieved December 23, 2016
  11. ↑ "Bill and Jean Lane Internship Endowment". Smithsonian Institution. September 10, 2008. Archived from the original on June 9, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  12. ↑ Lisa Kwiatkowski (February 25, 2005). "Bill Lane makes a gift of $5 million to endow Stanford's Center for the Study of the North American West". Stanford University. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
  13. ↑ "Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance". Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  14. ↑ Erin Meyer (October 8, 2015). "$5M to Fund Renowned Northwestern Piano Award In Perpetuity: Jean Gimbel Lane’s generosity brings world-famous pianists to campus". Northwestern Now. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Robert D. Nesen		 United States Ambassador to Australia
1985–1989 		Succeeded by
Mel Sembler
Preceded by
Robert D. Nesen		 United States Ambassador to Nauru
1985–1989 		Succeeded by
Mel Sembler
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