Roger Williams Straus Jr. (January 3, 1917 – May 25, 2004) 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. had his mind on paper. A summer job as copyboy and occasional writer for the White Plains Daily Reporter got him interested in journalism. He dropped out of St. George's School, but was accepted to Hamilton College in 1935. In 1937 he transferred to the University of Missouri and earned a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1939 (He would gain honorary Doctor of Literature degrees from U.M. in 1976 and Hofstra University 1989.) On June 27, 1938, Straus married childhood friend Dorothea Liebmann, great granddaughter of the founder of Rheingold Brewing, Samuel Liebmann and granddaughter of its president Charles Liebmann. Straus worked a variety of jobs after graduation. He was a reporter for the Columbia Missourian, publisher and editor of a literary magazine called Asterisk, and an editorial staff member of Current History magazine. He edited a series of history books for G. P. Putnam and also did reporting for the White Plains Daily Reporter. With the onset of World War II, he joined the Navy but a spinal infection prevented him from seeing action. He was put to work in the Magazine and Book Section of the Navy Office of Public Relations in New York, with his friend James Van Alen. Lieutenant Straus was discharged in 1945. Publisher The New York Times editorial page editor Charles Merz, a friend of his father, introduced Straus to John C. Farrar of Farrar & Rinehart (1929–1946). Straus borrowed $30,000 against his inheritance, $70,000 from his Navy co-worker