Regional Oral History Office University of California the Bancroft Library Berkeley, California BILL LANE SUNSET PUBLISHER

Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California BILL LANE SUNSET PUBLISHER, ENVIRONMENTALIST, AMBASSADOR Interviews conducted by Suzanne Riess in 1993-1994 Copyright © 2007 by The Regents of the University of California Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ********************************* All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and William Lane, dated September 11, 1996. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, Mail Code 6000, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: “BILL LANE, SUNSET PUBLISHER, CONSERVATIONIST, AMBASSADOR,” conducted by Suzanne Riess, 1993-1994, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2006. Copy no. ___ Art, Caroline, Arthur & Daniela Gimbel, Sharon Lane, Bob & Keighley Lane, Greg, Riley, Brenda, Bryan, Jessie & Crissy Munks, Joan & Mel, Bill & Jean—Bill’s 85th birthday, 2004 v Table of Contents—Bill Lane I LANE FAMILY ORIGINS, AND HISTORY OF SUNSET 1 Iowa Migrations to Southern California 1 Lawrence W. Lane, and Meredith Publishing Company 4 Conceiving of Sunset Magazine 6 Father's Values 7 An Aside on Muybridge and Horses 9 Meeting the Reader's Needs 11 Western Magazine Audiences 13 T.V. Competition for Magazine Time 17 Bill Lane's Des Moines Boyhood, Mentors 19 The Suburbs, and Sunset Subscribers 22 Early Women Editors: Gen Callahan, Lou Richardson, Helga Iverson 26 "Eskimo Pies" and Test Kitchens 29 Investors in Sunset Magazine, Webb Young 31 1929 Sunset Magazine Ownership Transition; The Great Depression 32 Bill Lane's Thoughts on Longevity and Legacy 35 II BILL LANE'S EDUCATION, AND EARLY ROLES AT SUNSET 37 Mother, Ruth Lane Bell, and Home Economics 37 Bill Lane Looks at the Bright Side 40 Ethics, and Advertisers, and Editorial Content 41 A Letters Column, and Feedback 44 Sunset Magazine Layout, 1993 48 Clothing Advertising and Do It Yourself 49 Sunset Subscriptions and "Boy Sales" 51 Bill Lane: Selling, Values, Liking to Win 54 The Lane Family Weathers the Depression 60 Bill Lane at Pomona and Stanford 63 Admiral Wright and VJ Day 65 Bill Lane's Self-Assessment of Abilities 67 Worldwide Problems and Generational Issues 70 III EVOLUTION OF SUNSET OWNERS, EDITORS, AND INTERESTS 76 A Recent Visit to Washington, and Organizing the Stegner Lectures 76 A Packer in the Sierra, 1936, and Norman Livermore 78 Thoughts on Californians and Mountains 82 Benefits to Sunset Magazine of Bill Lane's Public Service 84 Travel Editors, Martin Litton 86 Lane Policy of Publisher Overseeing Editorial 89 Walter Doty and Regionalizing Magazine's Garden Editorial 89 Sunset Magazine Advertisers, and Profile of Readers 91 Behind Sunset's Stand on Environmental Issues 95 "Bloody Thursday"—L.W. Lane Considers Selling the Magazine 97 Sunset Moves to Menlo Park; Cliff May 99 Meeting and Marrying Jean 100 The Apprenticeship of Bill Lane and Mel Lane 101 Sunset Magazine Layout, and Time Warner Changes 102 IV ISSUES OF TECHNOLOGY, ADVERTISING, AND AUDIENCE 106 ATEC, New Technology for Typesetting 106 Mapping, Positioning, Advertorials 108 Preserving and Referencing the Whole Magazine 109 High Tech, and "Why Not?" 110 Magazine Publishers Association; Subscription and Newsstand Mix 111 Ad Council's Pro Bono Advertising 114 American Advertising Federation, and Standards in Advertising and Film 116 Sunset's Trade Publications, Previews, Brand Names in Editorial Content 119 The Garden Preview 122 Staffing in the Early 1950s, Walter Doty and the Arcadia Study 127 Longtime Advertisers, Southern Pacific and Bank of America 127 Crown Zellerbach, and Sunset, and Redwoods 129 More on Advertising and Editorial Policy 132 Art Directors and Advances in Graphic Arts 134 Evolution of the Magazine's Audience, and Writing 136 Defining Control: Walter Doty and the Guidelines 139 V BILL LANE IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT 142 Young Bill Lane Brings in New Advertisers—The Kodak Account 142 "Media Mix"—What it Means 144 Some Secrets of Success in Selling 146 "Read Most" and Starch Ratings 149 What Coupons Do and Don't Show about Readership 151 Are There Limits to Bigness? 153 The Sunset-AIA Western Home Awards 155 Generalizations, Questionnaires and Visits to Readers 165 Lifestyles, and Sunset's Market 167 Government Service: Background, Oceans and Atmosphere 170 National Parks—Centennial Commission, 1970 172 Foreign Trade Commission, Pacific Area 176 VI LEADERSHIP ON NATIONAL PARKS AND CONSERVATION 180 National Parks Centennial Commission 180 Richard M. Nixon 183 Advisory Board and Council on National Parks Under Four Administrations 185 Bill Lane as Catalyst, Desert Conservation Area Advisory Committee 187 An Aside on Tall Poppies and Australia 190 The Visionaries, Urban and Gateway Parks, Bicoastal Networking 192 Lessons in Leadership 195 Advisory Board and Council on National Parks, Members 199 Choosing Between Appointments, Interior or Australia 204 California Water Issues, and Taking a Balanced View 206 Advisory Board and Council on National Parks, Disbanded 208 William Penn Mott—Sunset's Rose Garden Ceremony 209 Yosemite Park and Curry Company, and Firefall Nostalgia 210 Fun Parks—Competition with National Parks 214 VII AMBASSADORSHIP 216 Ambassador-at-Large and Commissioner General, World's International Ocean Exposition, Expo '75, Japan: Okinawa 216 The Move to Okinawa 218 Ryukyu Island Chain, and the Pacific Basin 221 Sunset, Long-Distance, and Abroad 224 Ambassadorship to Australia: Lane's Background with Reagan 228 Background on U.S. Embassy in Australia 230 Strategic Importance of Australia to the United States 233 Bill Lane Makes His Presence Felt 235 The Coral Sea Anniversary Power Struggle 239 CINC-PAC and the Nuclear Free Zone Issue 241 The Embassy Social Presence, Protocol 243 Keeping Going, Dealing with Stress 246 VIII CURRENT ACTIVITIES 249 California Water Service Company 249 California State Parks Foundation 250 Stanford Leadership Seminars 252 Meeting and Defeating Adversity 253 An Environmental Award 255 IX THE SALE OF SUNSET 256 Early Approach from Time, Inc. 256 Sunset in 1989—The Presidio Issue 259 Electronic Present and Future 261 Bids for Sunset, and Assets 265 Bankers and Negotiators 267 No Regrets on the Sale 271 The Transition Period 273 Thoughts on the Oral History, and Priorities 277 1 I LANE FAMILY ORIGINS AND HISTORY OF SUNSET [Interview 1: August 20, 1993] ##1 [Begin Tape 1, Side 1] Iowa Migrations to Southern California Riess: I want to start with your father's background. Lane: We are researching the lineage of the Lanes on my father's side, and the Bell side, which also goes back to the McLaughlin families. I don't have as much information as I should, but my father was born in Horton, Kansas. His father died within a year or so of my father's birth. Riess: Were they farmers? Lane: No. He was a merchant, I think. I'm not sure of his father, though. My grandmother, who was a Hill, and my grandmother on my father's side, were related through some cousins back to my mother's father's side, who was Hill M. Bell. The Hill in his name referred to my father's mother. So on both sides through the Hills there was a relationship. My grandmother Lane, my father's mother, was from a farming family background in Geneseo and Moline, Illinois. After his father's death my father went back with his mother to live with relatives in Moline and Geneseo, and we still have relatives there that we are in close contact with. Riess: I wonder if those families ever read the early Sunset magazine. Lane: There's certainly no evidence of that, no indication of that. Of course, in the early days Sunset's purpose, under the ownership of the Southern Pacific Railroad, the Central Pacific Railroad, was to bring settlers out, including midwesterners. Certainly there were many in Iowa who did come out. Iowans in southern California, excluding Iowans who may have come out in the Gold Rush and the latter part of the last century, was pretty much a phenomenon of 1## This symbol indicates that a tape or tape segment has begun or ended. A guide to the tapes follows the transcript. 2 the early part of this century. Land was subdivided and was sold very cheap to get population out here which developed a consumer base for agriculture and commercial activity.

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