Robert Crowell; Led Publishing House His Grandfather Founded
Robert L. Crowell, 92, former head of the family publishing house that produced Roget’s International Thesaurus and the first U.S. printings of Leo Tolstoy’s works, died Friday at his home in Ponte Verda, Fla.
He joined Thomas Y. Crowell Co., the New York publishing house started by his grandfather, in 1931. He was named president and treasurer six years later.
In 1978, HarperCollins acquired the company, and Crowell stepped down as president to become a consultant, a position he held until he retired in 1980.
The Montclair, N.J., native and 1931 Yale University graduate also served as a director of the American Book Publishing Council, a member of the United States Information Agency’s advisory committee and a director of the Yale University Press.
A strong conservationist, Crowell donated tracts of land in Vermont and Maine to both Yale University and the Nature Conservancy.
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