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James Truman
scoots Condé Nast
Off to Spain with his girlfriend to relax and ponder
If we think of Condé Nast these days, we'll likely think of
its hugely successful shopping titles, Lucky and Cargo. We'll also likely
think of James Truman, Condé Nast editorial director for the past decade
and the man who is credited with developing them.
Now Truman is leaving, and rather abruptly, to travel to Spain with
his artist girlfriend, with no apparent plans to do much of anything.
Truman, who is 46 and had a salary of $2 million per year, walked
into Condé Nast chairman Si Newhouse's office on Monday and announced
that he was quitting. Essentially, he says, he's accomplished what he set
out to accomplish and has gotten bored with his job.
Truman is being succeeded by Tom
Wallace, 55, editor in chief of Condé Nast Traveler since 1990. Wallace is
regarded as a talented editor but a very different sort than Truman, a
Brit who's usually described as enigmatic or downright quirky.
Wallace becomes the third editorial director of Condé Nast,
the first being the legendary Alexander Liberman.
Truman was appointed editorial director in 1994 after a stint
as editor of Details, a so-called downtown men's magazine before a
series of failed makeovers. Among the titles he’s overseen at Condé Nast
are GQ, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, House & Garden and Allure.
Truman is credited with appointing Jim Nelson as editor of GQ,
giving that title a more modern feel, nabbing former New York Times
restaurant critic Ruth Reichl to give Gourmet a facelift, and hiring Chris
Anderson from the Economist to revitalize Wired. He has another shopping
spinoff, Domino, a home-furnishing shopping title, ready to launch this spring.
Part of why Truman is leaving appears to be his failure to
get Newhouse's go-ahead to launch an art and culture magazine. Truman, who
had worked on the idea for more than a year, tells this morning’s New York
Post that had the magazine launched, he would have stayed around to do it.
“It wasn't the pivotal event, but it was part of it,”
he says.
Wallace takes over for Truman effective immediately. He will
oversee 13 of the company's 17 titles. In his years as editor of Condé
Nast Traveler, the magazine has won two National Magazine Awards, one for
general excellence, the other for photography. Wallace joined Condé Nast
from The New York Times, where he was assistant culture editor. He also
worked at Newsday.
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Jan. 6, 2005
©
2005
Media Life
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