Richard E. Snyder Passes Away at 93, Led Simon & Schuster to Success

Richard E. Snyder drove Simon & Schuster to become a successful company when it was under Gulf and Western Industries’ ownership, which acquired the company in 1975. However, things became complicated when Martin Davis, an executive at a subsidiary of Gulf and Western, became the company’s chairman after the death of founder and chairman Charles G. Bludhorn in 1983. There was a disagreement between Davis and Snyder, which resulted in Davis rejecting Snyder’s advice to invest in an educational publisher at a discounted price. Snyder formed an investment group that acquired Western Publishing and Golden Books in 1996 after being fired by Viacom; however, its turnaround proved to be problematic, and it was eventually sold.

Apart from his work with Simon & Schuster, Richard E. Snyder also played an important role in reviving International PEN, which promotes literature, and helped establish the foundation that presents the National Book Awards at the request of Norman Mailer. Snyder never denied that he was a demanding boss, but he believed that he did not expect more from others than what he expected from himself.

“Ninety‐nine percent of the people in this industry are highly intelligent, so that quality doesn’t distinguish anyone,” he told The Times during an interview in 1979. “The people who succeed are those who have the greatest commitment. Maybe it’s a neurotic commitment I look for, the person who will spend the last five minutes doing a task. You want someone who does something that is impossible and then is worried the next day that he can’t duplicate it.” Snyder was known to be a tough boss, but he revealed that it was because of his upbringing as an only child with limited structure in his home and little exposure to books since his parents were more interested in playing gin rummy.

“I was quite rebellious, and think my parents felt I was going on the wrong track,” he said. “They were very permissive, and guess I kept wishing they had exercised more authority. I can remember going to ‘Annie Hall’ with Joni when it opened. There was that great line when Woody Allen gets a ticket from a cop, rips it up and says, ‘It’s not your fault, I just can’t deal with authority.’

“I poked Joni and said, ‘That was me.’”