Roger Williams Straus Jr.

Roger Williams Straus, Jr., American journalist and publisher, co-founded Farrar, Straus and Giroux (died 2004)

Find birthday twins Open interactive profile

Born: January 3, 1917
Died: May 25, 2004
Zodiac sign: Capricorn
Birth year: 1917

About Roger Williams Straus Jr.

Roger Williams Straus Jr. (January 3, 1917 – May 25, 2004) was an American publisher who was co-founder and chairman of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, a New York book publishing company, and member of the Guggenheim family. == Biography == === Early life === Straus was born in New York City and was raised in a wealthy and influential Jewish family. His mother was Gladys Guggenheim Straus (1895–1980), heir to one of the largest fortunes in America. His father, Roger Williams Straus Sr. (1891–1957), grew up in the family that owned Macy's and was chairman of the American Smelting and Refining Co., which was owned by his wife's family. Straus' paternal grandfather, Oscar Straus, served as Secretary of Commerce and Labor under President Theodore Roosevelt and was the first Jewish member of a U.S. Cabinet; his paternal grandmother was philanthropist Sarah Lavanburg Straus. Two of his great-uncles perished on the Titanic, Isidor Straus and Benjamin Guggenheim. While Straus Sr. focused on metal, Straus Jr.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

Straus borrowed $30,000 against his inheritance, $70,000 from his Navy co-worker Van Alen, and another $50,000 from others including Julius Fleischmann, whose family was famous for yeast and gin.
They earned $200,000 in sales in their first year.
Their first blockbuster was Gayelord Hauser's Look Younger, Live Longer, which was published in 1950 and eventually sold 600,000 copies.

The world when Roger Williams Straus Jr. was born

Roger Williams Straus Jr. was born in 1917. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1917

Best-selling book"Mr. Britling Sees It Through" – H.G. Wells

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentProfessional sports curtailed as America enters World War I
Top headlineUS enters World War I
Technology milestoneFirst practical military use of sonar
World population~1.77B

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderWoodrow Wilson
U.S. population100.8M

1917 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Roger Williams Straus Jr.'s birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1917	2026
Gas	$0.25	$3.45/gal
Population	100.8M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.