Publisher's death under investigation

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, June, 1998 by Neil Cassidy

Private investigators in Atlanta are continuing their probe into the April 10 death of Doug Edgell, co-founder of Randolph, New Jersey-based business publisher Edgell Communications. Edgell, 46, was returning home from a business trip April 9 when he apparently fainted in the Atlanta airport, suffering a massive head injury. Because no money was found on him, it was initially suspected that Edgell might have been assaulted prior to collapsing, but as of mid-May "there's been no evidence to substantiate any criminal activity," Edgell Communications CEO Gerry Ryerson notes. He adds that Edgell, a registered organ donor, was kept on life support until Saturday, April 11, and that his wife, Gabriele, Edgell Communications' co-founder, had given permission for emergency procedures to relieve pressure on her husband's brain. But, Ryerson says, all hope had been lost by the 10th, Good Friday.

Edgell's father, former Harcourt Brace Jovanovich CEO Robert Edgell, committed suicide on New Year's Day 1991 at age 68. Doug Edgell's survivors emphasize that family history did not repeat itself in Atlanta. "Doug loved so many aspects of life--his family, his business, his outdoor life. He had just built a mountain home in the Adirondacks," says Debbie Oberg Edgell, one of Doug's four sisters. She adds: "Doug learned huge lessons from our father's mistake. He knew life was too valuable; he would never have chosen suicide."

Ryerson notes there were "several hundred" attendees at Edgell's April 15 funeral. He had been in publishing since 1973, holding management positions at Ziff-Davis, Conde Nast and Gordon Publications. Edgell Communications publishes seven titles including Retail Info System News, Consumer Goods Manufacturer and Hospitality Technology. In addition to his wife, Edgell is survived by his daughter Katherine, 14, and son Gregory, 10.