Bill Lane (publisher)
Bill Lane | |
---|---|
Melvin F. Sembler | |
Personal details | |
Born | Des Moines, Iowa, U.S. | November 7, 1919
Died | July 31, 2010 | (aged 90)
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Jean Gimbel Lane |
Children | 3 |
Parent(s) | Laurence William Lane (father), Ruth Bell (mother) |
Alma mater | Stanford University |
Laurence William Lane Jr. (November 7, 1919 – July 31, 2010) was an American magazine publisher, diplomat, and philanthropist.
Early life and education
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
Bill Lane attended Pomona College before transferring to Stanford University to study Journalism.[4] He was a member of the Stanford Chaparral. After graduating with a bachelor's degree from Stanford, he joined the US Navy during World War II.[4]
Lane married Donna Jean Gimbel in 1955, they met while she was working as an interior designer in Chicago.[5][6]
Career
As their father phased himself out of the business, Bill took over the Sunset Magazine publishing and brother Melvin (1922–2007) managed the Sunset Books business.[7]
Lane was the first mayor and one of the founders of
The Lane publishing business was sold to
In 1995, Lane was named Conservationist of the Year by the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA).[4]
In 2006, Lane received the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration's Pugsley Medal in 2006 because of his contributions to parks and conservation with advocacy through his magazine, leadership positions on a host of national and regional boards and advisory committees, and personal philanthropy.[3]
Philanthropy, death and legacy
The Lane family were large donors to Stanford University including renovations in 1983 to the Palo Alto Stock Farm Horse Barn[13] and after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, for the reconstruction of the Stanford Memorial Church and other historic campus buildings.[14] In 2005, a donation to Stanford University named the Center for the Study of the North American West department after the Lane family.[15]
Lane, with a long interest in aviation, was a founding member of the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, CA.[16]
The Lanes sponsored an internship program starting in 2002, the Bill and Jean Lane Internship Endowment at the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution.[17]
In 2005, Lane and his wife (who graduated from
With a large donation to the
Bill and Jean Lane endowed the Lane Family Lectureship in Environmental Science at Washington State University.[22] The lecture was inaugurated in 1993. With their son, Robert, a 1983 WSU graduate, they also created the Robert Lane Fellowship in Environmental Science to support graduate students studying environmental science at Washington State University.[22]
Bill Lane died on July 31, 2010, at the age of 90.[5] His wife, Jean Lane, died in Portola Valley on 18 November 2017, after a brief illness, at the age of 87.[6] Together they were survived by their three children, two daughters Sharon Louise Lane and Brenda Lane Munks and a son Robert Laurence Lane.[23]
References
- ^ a b Marion Softky (November 5, 2009). "Bill Lane turns 90 and is still going strong". The Almanac. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ISBN 978-0-911221-17-6. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
- ^ a b "L.W. "Bill" Lane, Jr. | American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration". aapra.org. Archived from the original on 2018-06-21. Retrieved 2018-06-21.
- ^ a b c Nelson, Valerie J. (5 August 2010). "L.W. 'Bill' Lane Jr. dies at 90; longtime Sunset publisher". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
- ^ a b Dave Boyce. "So long to Bill Lane: Valley icon, publisher and philanthropist dies at age 90". The Almanac. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
- ^ a b Boyce, Dave (2017). "Jean Lane, philanthropist and environmentalist, dies at 87". The Almanac. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "L. W. Lane, Jr". Council of American Ambassadors web site. 2004. Archived from the original on January 4, 2007. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ISBN 978-0-7432-1966-2.
- ^ Jane Knoerle (June 16, 2004). "Reagan and Lane: They rode the range together". The Almanac. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ "Lane, Laurence William", It's an Honour web site, Australia Government, retrieved December 23, 2016
- ^ "History". Stanford Equestrian. Retrieved 2018-06-21.
- ^ "Bill Lane, Stanford benefactor and Sunset publisher, dead at". Stanford Report. August 2, 2010. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Full obituary information on L.W. 'Bill' Lane". Palo Alto Online. Embarcadero Media Group. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
- ^ "Bill and Jean Lane Internship Endowment". Smithsonian Institution. September 10, 2008. Archived from the original on June 9, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ "Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance". Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. Archived from the original on December 24, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Jean and Bill Lane Botanical Library". University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). Retrieved 2019-06-10.
- ISBN 9781581570748.
- ^ a b "Lane Family Lecture in Environmental Science". School of the Environment, Washington State University. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
- ^ "In Memoriam: Jean Lane". The Bill Lane Center for the American West. Stanford University. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 2018-06-21.
External links
- "The Bill Lane Center for the American West". official web site. Stanford University.
- "Sunset: How to live in the west". official web site. Sunset publishing Corporation.
- "The Lane Family". The Sunset Bibliography. Stanford University.