André Laguerre

Laguerre was promoted to managing editor of Sports Illustrated in May 1960, after four years as assistant managing editor. His time at the magazine was instrumental in saving what was, when he took over, a financially insolvent publication. He would serve as managing editor for fourteen years, leading the magazine for a total of 704 issues, then a record among Time, Inc. managing editors. During his tenure, the circulation grew from 900,000 to 2,250,000 issues, and the advertising budget grew from $11.9 million to $72.2 million. He altered the look and feel of the magazine, changing its focus from a lifestyle magazine that focused on leisure sports, to one that covered the major American team sports, at a time when television vastly altered the way in which such sports were covered. As such, he kept Sports Illustrated at the head of the growth of interest in these sports. He also placed a heavy emphasis on the use of color photography and late deadline, to keep the magazine up to date and visually appealing. He hired and encouraged writers who were masters at prose, emphasizing writing over sportswriting, and the crop of writers he brought to the magazine, including Frank Deford, Dan Jenkins, Budd Schulberg, and Gil Rogin, helped change the way people wrote about sports.[1][2][15]

Laguerre had been very guarded about his personal life among his coworkers. Deford, who worked closely with him for many years, and who looked up to him as a mentor, said of him, "Laguerre was a fascinating paradox: He was almost constitutionally withdrawn, but among the friends he chose, he was magnetic."[3] One publisher called him "A powerful personality"[2] while another called him "A close-mouthed, self-contained man who seemed forbidding to some ... despite his reserve, [his] personality was pervading, dominating; he exuded strength and leadership."[1]

Among his more curious and enduring innovations was the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. The winter months, between the college bowl season and the start of Major League Baseball's spring training, was a slow time for sports journalism. At the time, winter team sports like basketball and ice hockey were regional niche sports, and there was little to write about. Laguerre had instituted an annual February issue titled "Fun in the Sun", where he sent his staff to an exotic locale to write about and photograph it for his readers. In 1964, he asked Jule Campbell, then a fashion reporter for Sports Illustrated, to "go to some beautiful place and put a pretty girl on the cover" of that year's "Fun in the Sun" issue.[8] That year's issue featured only five pages of girls in swimsuits, and still predominantly featured travel writing, including articles about snorkeling and fish-watching. With the help of that year's "Fun in the Sun" issue, 1964 became the first year that Sports Illustrated would turn a profit. Though originally only planned as a one-off event, Laguerre was convinced by Sports Illustrated art director Dick Gangel to bring back the swimsuits in 1965, only "a lot sexier". Laguerre once again assigned Jule Campbell to scout models and locations. The 1965 issue contained an article entitled "The Nudity Cult" and de-emphasized the travelogue-like writing of previous "Fun in the Sun" issues from which it evolved. Since then, the Swimsuit Issue has become the biggest selling issue of the magazine, and a major cross-over publication for the fashion and modeling worlds as well.[3][8]

Laguerre's tenure as managing editor had a profound effect on the other 51 issues of the year as well. During the magazine's first several years, prior to Laguerre's arrival, the magazine did not place major American team sports at the forefront. As an example, during 1955 and 1956, the magazine's first two years, it featured as many articles on fishing as on professional football, 23 articles. By 1965–1966, five years into Laguerre's term, the magazine published only eight articles on fishing, while it published over 60 articles on pro football.[16]

Besides changing the types of sports being covered, the manner in which they were covered changed as well. Under earlier managing editors, the magazine's writing and editorial staff was organized by department. Thus, there was a fashion department, a travel department, and a sports department, which covered all sports. Laguerre reorganized the magazine, giving each sport its own separate department, so there would be a dedicated staff of writers in the baseball department, and a different boxing department, and another for pro football, and so on. Laguerre also encouraged serious investigative journalism, and did not shy away from controversial issues. In 1961, writer Ray Cave broke a story on point shaving in college basketball. In 1968, under Laguerre's direction, and under secrecy from his superiors, the magazine ran a five-part series on the experience of black athletes in America.[17]

Laguerre's later years showed less success as the magazine became an industry leader. In 1968, its coverage of the Mexico City Olympics was heavily criticized, having been "scooped" on most stories by both Time and Life magazines. A 1969 book by Jack Olsen, titled The Girls in the Office, embarrassed Time Inc. over its treatment of its female employees, including those at Sports Illustrated. In 1970, 23 women on staff at Sports Illustrated signed a petition demanding equal treatment. Laguerre relented, promoting Pat Ryan to senior editor, and paying her the same as the men in her same position. By 1973, Laguerre's leadership was under a direct challenge from within his staff and from his superiors. A January 1973 story in New York Magazine was highly critical of the degrading quality of the writing and of the stagnating corporate culture at Sports Illustrated. By September of that year, Laguerre was asked to step down as managing editor. He was offered an executive position in corporate offices which he refused and his resignation was complete by February 1, 1974.[18]