Written by Hearst Corporation

Oct. 1, 2014: John Mack Carter, the storied magazine editor who headed the nation's top three women's magazines, including a 20-year stint at Good Housekeeping, died September 26, 2014, at his home in Bronxville after a lengthy battle with Parkinson's disease. He was 86 years old.

Carter spent six decades in magazines and was the editor who shaped a new agenda for women's magazines in the pre-feminist era. He edited McCall's, then Ladies' Home Journal, and ultimately Good Housekeeping--the top women's titles at the time--and is the only person in publishing history to have headed all three.

In the early 1970s, a group of women stormed Carter's office at Ladies' Home Journal, holding him hostage for 11 hours as they demanded and negotiated changes in the magazine. The event garnered national media attention and Carter responded by taking magazines in a direction that reflected women's changing roles and needs.

"There was more discrimination than I thought," he later said. "I didn't push our women readers far enough in their self-awareness." In another interview he stated, "Power is the big issue that divides men and women. Men hold power, women want power, but men are reluctant to give it--any of it--away." His magazines reflected his ever-evolving consciousness, and he became one of the first male members of the Association for Women in Communications. He remained an advocate for women for the rest of his career, speaking out on issues ranging from equal rights to sexual harassment.

"John Mack Carter was a giant in our industry," said Steven R. Swartz, president and CEO, Hearst Corporation. "For decades he led some of this country's most widely read magazines, he mentored a generation of writers and editors, and his hugely successful Good Housekeeping helped fuel the growth of today's Hearst Corporation."

"John Mack Carter was one of the most successful and influential editors of his time," said William R. Hearst III, chairman of the board, Hearst Corporation. "He was a leader in every aspect of the business and he will be missed by the entire Hearst family."

"When John Mack became editor of Good Housekeeping, he faced a formidable challenge of invigorating the magazine without alienating its loyal core readers," said Frank A. Bennack, Jr., executive vice chairman and former CEO, Hearst Corporation. "Along with modernizing its content, he had a solution in 1975 that is today's industry standard: Put celebrities on the cover. The idea was revolutionary at the time, and massive, immediate circulation growth followed. His vision and leadership played an important role in the growth of this company. We will all miss John Mack's unparalleled passion--and most of all, his friendship."

"After leading Good Housekeeping to unprecedented success, John Mack Carter went on to generate future magazine growth at Hearst by inspiring the launch of new titles," said Gilbert C. Maurer, director and former COO, Hearst Corporation. "Over the years, so much of what I came to recognize as the standards for great magazine publishing I learned from John. His knack for perceiving unfilled needs in the marketplace was uncanny. And no one ever wrote a better cover line."

A Murray, KY, native who attended Murray State University before transferring to the University of Missouri, where he earned his master's in journalism in 1949, Carter remained loyal to his roots. He received an honorary doctor of letters degree from Murray State University in 1971. Advertising Age once dubbed Carter the "bluegrass evangelist," yet he was the consummate New York media luminary, working on more than a dozen established magazines.

When Carter left Good Housekeeping in 1994, he helped to conceive and launch new titles for Hearst as president of Hearst Magazines Enterprises. Carter played a pivotal role in launching Country Living, Victoria, SmartMoney, and Marie Claire, among other titles.

Carter came to Hearst in 1975 from American Home Publishing Company, where he was chairman and editor in chief of American Home magazine. Under his leadership at Good Housekeeping from 1975 to 1994, the magazine won two National Magazine Awards in the Personal Service category. In 1989, Carter received the Henry Johnson Fisher Award from MPA--The Association of Magazine Media--and in 2000, he was inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors' Hall of Fame. He served as president of ASME from 1990 to 1992 and remained an ex-officio member of its board of directors.

In addition to his editorial and executive duties, Carter wrote a monthly column on magazines for Adweek for nine years. He hosted the cable television program Good Housekeeping: A Better Way. He also found time to author and co-author a number of books, including 1975's How to Be Outrageously Successful with Women: A Guide to Surviving the Sexual Revolution, with Lois Wyse, and The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Pregnancy and Baby Care (1990).

Carter's long list of honors includes the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism award at Ohio University and the Advertising Women of New York's Silver Medal. In 1985, the National Women's Political Caucus named him one of the "Good Guys" for his commitment to the goals of full equality for women.

Carter was fervently involved in non-industry causes, earning the Congressional Families Action for Cancer Awareness Award. He was a co-founder of the New York City Race for the Cure and also volunteered with the American Cancer Society and the Christian Church Foundation.

While still in high school, Carter became a reporter for the Murray Ledger & Times, where he continued to contribute until he completed his graduate degree. He was offered $50 a week by Better Homes and Gardens to be an assistant editor, his first foray into women's magazines.

He left Better Homes and Gardens for a commission as an ensign in the U.S. Navy and served two tours during the Korean War on the minesweeper U.S.S. Toucan before being honorably discharged as a lieutenant. Carter then took a job as managing editor at Household Magazine in Topeka, KS, before heading to his ultimate destination of New York City.

Carter served on presidential commissions on human need under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He was honored by President Kennedy when he was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Year in 1963 by the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce. In 1976, he was appointed by President Gerald R. Ford and later re-appointed by President Jimmy Carter to a national commission in observance of the International Women's Year.

In 1977, he was honored as Publisher of the Year by Brandeis University and in 1978 he was named Headliner of the Year by the Association for Women in Communications. He received the University of Missouri's Missouri Honor Award for Distinguished Service in Journalism in 1979.

In 1979, Carter testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Human Resources on behalf of equal rights for women and his vision of women's growing role worldwide. That year he was elected to the executive board of the Business Council for the United Nations' Office of the Decade for Women. Carter also served on the President's Commission on the Status of Women and the Coalition to Stop Sexual Harassment. His commission work highlighted the need for more child care and supported hiring and promoting more women in workplaces, including newsrooms.

The John Mack Carter Media Scholarship, funded by the American Association of Advertising Agencies, is awarded annually at the University of Texas at Austin to female graduate students committed to creating "media that makes a difference."

A Bronxville resident for 47 years and a former village trustee, Carter is survived by his wife of 66 years, Sharlyn Reaves Carter; his children, Jonna Carter and John Mack Carter II; son-in-law, John R. Low; daughter-in-law, Victoria Carter; and four grandchildren, John Mack Carter III, Christina Victoria Carter, Kathleen Elizabeth Carter Low, and Christopher Ryan Carter Low. He is also survived by his twin sister, Carolyn Carter Reagan; brother-in-law, Johnny Regan; nieces, Jan Reagan Fuqua and Lyn Reagan Ryan; and nephews, Danny Grant, David Grant, Dean Grant, and Donald Grant.

A funeral service will be held on Wednesday, October 1, at 11:00 am at The Reformed Church of Bronxville (180 Pondfield Road, Bronxville).

A reception will follow at Siwanoy Country Club (351 Pondfield Road, Bronxville). In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Andrus Early Learning Center (65 Main Street, 3rd Floor, Tuckahoe, NY 10707; Alessandra Rose, 914-965-3700, ext. 1241).