Paul Block
{{short description|Advertising rep and publisher (1875–1941)}}
{{distinguish|Paul Bloch}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Paul Block
| image =Paul Block, 1928.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Block at the White House, 1928
| birth_name =
| birth_date = November 2, 1875
| birth_place = Königsberg, East Prussia
| death_date = {{death date and age|1941|06|22|1875|11|02}}
| death_place = New York City, New York, U.S.
| death_cause =
| nationality = American
| other_names =
| known_for = Newspaper publisher
| education =
| occupation =
| spouse = Dina Wallach
| children = William Block
Paul Block Jr.
| parents =
| family =
| website =
}}
Paul Block (November 2, 1875 – June 22, 1941) was president of Paul Block and Associates (later Block Communications) and publisher of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Toledo Blade, and a dozen other newspapers.[http://www.jta.org/1941/06/24/archive/services-held-for-paul-block-famous-publisher Jewish Journal: "Services Held for Paul Block, Famous Publisher"] June 24, 1941
Biography
Block was born on November 2, 1875, to a poor Lithuanian Jewish family in Königsberg, East Prussia.{{cite book|last=Brady|first=Frank|title=The Publisher: Paul Block: A Life of Friendship, Power and Politics|publisher=University Press of America|year=2001|pages=xiii, xxiii}} (Brady rejects Block's claim of having been born in Elmira, New York in 1877.) In 1885, his parents immigrated to Elmira, New York, where his father worked as a ragpicker.[http://www.toledoblade.com/Books/2001/02/25/Early-primaries-set-the-stage-for-great-Republican-battle.html Toledo Blade: "Paul Block: Story of success" BY JACK LESSENBERRY] January 9, 2013 Block attended Elmira public schools and at the age of 10, he worked as a part-time newsboy and office messenger with Harry Brooks, the founder of the Elmira Telegram, where he learned the newspaper business. In 1900, he left the Elmira Telegram and formed his own advertising rep firm which sold national advertising for client newspapers, Block Communications,[http://blockcommunications.com/history.html Block Communications Website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208233940/http://blockcommunications.com/history.html |date=2015-02-08 }} retrieved December 1, 2014 and is credited with pioneering the concept of national news advertising. He developed a close friendship and business relationship with William Randolph Hearst frequently serving as a frontman for Hearst's newspaper acquisitions (Block's mistress Marion Davies would become Hearst's mistress and Block would later serve as Hearst's executor) as well as purchasing several papers outright beginning with the Newark Star-Eagle and the Detroit Journal.
In 1926, he acquired the Toledo Blade and in 1927, he created the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.[http://ajrarchive.org/Article.asp?id=4072 American Journalism Review: "Blocked Out - The Block family shutters its newspapers’ Washington bureau" by Jodi Enda] April / May 2006 He went on to own 14 papers, including The Milwaukee Sentinel, the Brooklyn Standard-Union, the New York Evening Mail, the Los Angeles Express, the Memphis News-Scimitar, The Toledo Times, the Lancaster New Era, the Duluth Herald, and the Duluth News-Tribune.{{cite news |title=PAUL BLOCK GIVES $100,000 TO YALE |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/05/02/archives/paul-block-gives-100000-to-yale-founds-a-course-to-promote.html |access-date=6 November 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=May 2, 1930}}{{cite news |title=Dina Wallach Block, 98; Co-Owner of Newspaper |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/14/obituaries/dina-wallach-block-98-co-owner-of-newspaper.html |access-date=6 November 2024 |work=The New York Times}}{{cite news |title=PAUL BLOCK TO OFFER $4,300,000 NOTE ISSUE; |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/07/20/archives/paul-block-to-offer-4300000-note-issue-he-organizes-the.html |access-date=6 November 2024 |work=The New York Times}}
Block was a close friend of New York City mayor Jimmy Walker (often letting Walker use his apartment for liaisons with his mistress Ziegfeld Follies dancer Betty Compton) and president Calvin Coolidge. Block also played a key role in advancing the career of future president Franklin D. Roosevelt by supporting his 1928 campaign for governor.
Philanthropy
Personal life
He was married to Dina Wallach;[http://www.post-gazette.com/news/obituaries/2005/06/21/Obituary-William-Block-Longtime-publisher-of-Post-Gazette-dies/stories/200506210154 Pittsburgh Post Gazette: "Obituary: William Block / Longtime publisher of Post-Gazette dies - Unassuming leader of 60 years with wide interests in arts, community" by Michael McGough and James O'Toole] June 21, 2005[https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/14/obituaries/dina-wallach-block-98-co-owner-of-newspaper.html New York Times: "Dina Wallach Block, 98; Co-Owner of Newspaper"] June 14, 1981 they had two sons: William Block and Paul Block Jr. Block died of cancer in 1941; funeral services were held at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan.
References
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Category:American newspaper publishers (people)
Category:American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent
Category:Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
Category:American philanthropists
Category:Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States