Thomas N. Schroth, Influential Washington Editor, Is Dead at 88
Thomas N. Schroth, who helped expand and deepen political coverage of Washington as the editor of Congressional Quarterly and a founding editor of National Journal, died on July 23 at his home in Sedgwick, Me. He was 88.
The cause was congestive heart failure, his daughter Amy said.
Mr. Schroth (pronounced to rhyme with growth) led the editorial staff of Congressional Quarterly from 1955 to 1969. It was a formative time for the publication, founded 10 years earlier as an information service for newspapers by the publisher of The St. Petersburg Times, Nelson Poynter, and his wife, Henrietta. Under Mr. Schroth’s editorial guidance, it grew to a full-fledged journal documenting and analyzing Congress’s every move.
In 1969, after a long-simmering dispute with Mr. Poynter over Congressional Quarterly’s editorial direction, Mr. Schroth was fired. Almost immediately he announced a new publication, to cover the executive branch and general policymaking, National Journal.
Mr. Schroth left Washington in 1972 and moved to Maine, where he became editor of a weekly paper, The Ellsworth American, and with his wife published Maine Life magazine. He also became involved in Democratic politics, eventually serving on the Maine State Democratic Committee.
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The cause was congestive heart failure, his daughter Amy said.
Mr. Schroth (pronounced to rhyme with growth) led the editorial staff of Congressional Quarterly from 1955 to 1969. It was a formative time for the publication, founded 10 years earlier as an information service for newspapers by the publisher of The St. Petersburg Times, Nelson Poynter, and his wife, Henrietta. Under Mr. Schroth’s editorial guidance, it grew to a full-fledged journal documenting and analyzing Congress’s every move.
In 1969, after a long-simmering dispute with Mr. Poynter over Congressional Quarterly’s editorial direction, Mr. Schroth was fired. Almost immediately he announced a new publication, to cover the executive branch and general policymaking, National Journal.
Mr. Schroth left Washington in 1972 and moved to Maine, where he became editor of a weekly paper, The Ellsworth American, and with his wife published Maine Life magazine. He also became involved in Democratic politics, eventually serving on the Maine State Democratic Committee.