Name John Fry | Role Journalist | |
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"John Fry" invented the Nations Cup of alpine ski racing by which the relative strengths of the world's national ski teams are ranked annually. Fry created Nastar (National Standard Ski Race), a system for recreational skiers to experience the thrill of racing, in use at more than a hundred U.S. ski areas. He has worked as a journalist and as chief editor of large-circulation magazines devoted to skiing, golf, and outdoor recreation and travel. He served as editor-in-chief of SKI Magazine and founding editor of Snow Country Magazine. He has written more than 300 published articles and opinion columns about skiing. He is the author of the award-winning Story of Modern Skiing, about the revolutions in the sport that happened after World War II. He is Chairman of the International Skiing History Association, publisher of Skiing History Magazine.
Contents
- Early life
- Magazine publishing career
- Books
- Boards of Directors
- Articles published
- Articles on Sir Arnold Lunn
- Awards
- Personal life
- References
Early life
Born January 22, 1930 in Montreal, PQ, Canada, Fry first donned skis at age six. After a few years he was able to ride the world’s first rope tow, which had been built at Shawbridge, Quebec in 1932.
Fry attended Lower Canada College, graduating in 1947, and then McGill University, where he raced for the Red Birds Ski Club. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in 1951.
Magazine publishing career
After graduating from McGill University, Fry worked in public relations and custom publishing from 1952 to 1957. He emigrated to New York City in 1957 when he joined the daily trade paper American Metal Market, where he became managing editor. Separately, as a freelancer, he served as contributing editor of Ski Life, a national magazine launched in 1959, soon to be merged with SKI Magazine. In 1963 he joined the staff of SKI as executive editor, and editor of its sister publication Ski Business. In 1964 he was named editor-in-chief of SKI, and in 1969 became editorial director of SKI and Golf Magazines, both published by Universal Publishing & Distributing Co. After the Times Mirror Company acquired the titles in 1972, he served as Editorial Director of Outdoor Life, SKI and GOLF Magazines, with circulations ranging from 350,000 to 1.8 million. During this period, he created two new publications: Action Vacations and Cross-Country Ski.
In 1968, when editor-in-chief of SKI Magazine, he originated the National Standard Race (NASTAR), similar to par in golf, now operated at more than a hundred ski areas under the governance of the U.S. Ski Team. In 1967 he created the Nations Cup, a way to measure the annual performance of national teams competing in the FIS World Cup of alpine skiing. As SKI’s editor, he was instrumental in initiating the Graduated Length Method (GLM) of ski instruction, by which novices were taught to ski on a progression from short to long skis.
In the summer of 1987, the New York Times Co. retained Fry as an editorial consultant to create the content and design of a new magazine, Snow Country, aimed at skiers and visitors to the mountains. Following publication of the premier issue in January 1988, he became the full-time editor-in-chief. Snow Country, which attained a circulation of 450,000, was named by the Acres of Diamonds Awards in 1991 as one of America's best new magazines. The magazine, acquired by another publisher in 1999, ceased publication in 2000. In 1996, the New York Times Sports/Leisure Group appointed Fry as Editor of New Magazine Development. In this role he started Golf Course Living Magazine. He retired from the New York Times Co. in 1999. As Editor of Snow Country and an elected director of the Pinchot Institute for Conservation, he helped to initiate two national conferences on the environmental impact of the rapid growth in mountain living. At the same time he devised the idea of measuring the economics and demographics of counties containing the majority of U.S. ski resorts. From 1999 to 2011 Fry returned to SKI Magazine as a contributing editor, and he remains an active member of the editorial board at Skiing History magazine. A dedicated gardener, Fry designed a hillside garden at his passive solar home in Katonah, featuring sculptural works of his daughter Leslie, featured in the June 15, 2011 edition of the New York Times. The following year, he staged in the Katonah Library a show of his photography, Near and There, an assemblage of photographs he made over the years at or near his home, each one paired with an image garnered from his travels around the world.
Books
Boards of Directors
Articles published
Between 1954 and today Fry has written more than 300 published articles and columns for SKI, Snow Country and Skiing History (formerly Skiing Heritage) magazines, as well as for Sport Magazine, the New York Times, Ski Business, Ski Area Management, and other periodicals.
Articles on Sir Arnold Lunn
Awards
Personal life
Fry married Ann Lyons in 1952, and they were divorced in 1958. They had two children, Leslie Stevenson Fry and William Lyons Fry. He married Marlies Strillinger in 1965. They have a daughter, Nicole Maria Fry.