Jan White, 86, Magazine Designer and Prolific Author on the Subject

An obituary from Hoyt-Cognetta Funeral Home:

Jan Viktor White, 86, an architect who became one of the world’s leading magazine designers, passed away on Dec. 30.

Born in Prague on April 6, 1928, he left Czechoslovakia for London with his mother, Karla Weiss, to join his father, the renowned architect and illustrator Emil Weiss, who had left six months earlier.

He received a full scholarship to the Leighton Park School, where his talents in drawing and sculpture were quickly recognized. Upon emigrating to the United States in 1947, he studied architecture at Cornell and Columbia.

He worked in magazine design at Time Inc., ultimately leaving to start a very successful independent magazine consultancy and practice in Westport. [His website.]

He wrote 21 books on various aspects of magazine design including Editing By Design, the seminal book in the field. He was twice married, first to Ruth Kessler with whom he had two sons — Charles N. (Toby) White of Delray Beach, FL and Alexander W. White of Westport, CT — and then to Clare Mallon, with whom he also had two sons — Gregory F. White of Dover, MA and Christopher V. White of Hartford CT.

He was a renaissance man in the truest sense. Among his many passions were writing, travel — he and his beloved Clare visited over 60 countries — sculpture, and drawing. He was the family historian, producing a dozen meticulously researched, detailed, and illustrated books on the subject.

He was a very proud member of the Century Association where he served actively on several committees and was a dedicated participant in the Sketch Club.

He is survived by his four sons and seven grandchildren (Morgan, Courtney, Alexandra, Emma, Andrew, Reis, and McKenzie). His professional impact and influence on the field of magazine design, and more importantly the irreplaceable impact he had on his family and friends, will be profoundly missed.

Friends may greet the family at 1 p.m., Thursday Jan. 8, in Norwalk’s Hoyt-Cognetta Funeral Home & Crematory, 5 East Wall St. Interment will follow in Lakeview Cemetery, New Canaan. Please visit www.norwalkfh.com for more information.

Picture: Jan V. White (from his website)