The New York Times, May 1, 1979
“2 Tennesseans Buy Esquire; To Continue Its ‘Tradition’”
By Charlotte Evans
“Esquire magazine has been sold to two men from Knoxville, Tenn., who said yesterday that they would continue its ‘tradition of literary excellence.’ They said it would be aimed at ‘educated, sophisticated, active, upscale, career-oriented males 25-45 years old,’ who might need guidance in a world in which ‘the rules of society have completely changed.’ The new owners are Phillip Moffitt, 32 years old, who will be the president and editor, and Christopher Whittle, 31, who will be chairman of the board and publisher.”
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The New York Times, May 6, 1979
“Gunners From the South: Saving Esquire and the Male Ego”
“Out of Knoxville, Tenn., they came: two little-known publishers who call themselves ‘the fastest draws in the South.’ Last week they strode into the nation’s publishing capital and bagged prestigious old Esquire magazine. They sounded as though they could hardly believe it. ‘Here we are,’ said Phillip Moffitt, ‘we’re 31 and 32 years old, and we’ve bought Esquire.’ And to be sure they were noticed.”
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The Washington Post, May 7, 1979
“How Two Smart Kids from Tennessee Took Control of Esquire”
By Tom Zito
“Last Thursday, five days after he had become part-owner and editor of Esquire magazine, Phillip Moffitt was walking across 28th Street in Manhattan with Jim Wooten, one of the magazine’s premiere writers. Moffitt is 32 years old. He grew up in Kingsport, Tenn., a town of 25,000 where his father worked in a Kodak plant. He talks slowly, with a mouth full of South.”
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The New York Times, April 9, 1981
“Owners Still Gamble on Esquire”
By N.R. Kleinfield
“When Christopher Whittle and Phillip Moffitt bought languishing Esquire Magazine two years ago, one of the last decrees of the outgoing regime was that its offices be moved to 2 Park Avenue. Thus the day the jaunty young Tennesseans (they were barely into their 30s) took charge, Esquire was literally a maze of unpacked boxes.”
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The New York Times, November 4, 1982
“Celebration Is Planned at Esquire”
By Phillip H. Dougherty
“Having pulled Esquire Magazine back from the brink of disaster, the rescue team headed by Phillip W. Moffitt, editor, and H. Christopher Whittle, president, is now planning a yearlong 50th anniversary celebration capped by a media event that it hopes will challenge the glories of television.”
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The New York Times, January 1, 1987
“Hearst Gets Esquire Magazine”
By Lee A. Daniels
“Esquire, the monthly that has been one of the magazine industry’s greatest turnaround stories in recent years, was bought yesterday by Hearst Corporation … In a telephone interview, Mr. Moffitt said he had decided in November to sell the company to devote his efforts to writing full time. ‘I’ve always wanted to write full time,’ he said. ‘I felt that I had achieved almost every goal I had set for myself in magazine publishing, but this other thing so nagged at me that it finally reached the point where I said to myself that if I was ever going to give myself over to it, I had to do it now.”
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San Francisco Chronicle, April 6, 2008
“Moffitt Traded Esquire for the Quiet Life”
By Amy Moon
“At the pinnacle of his success as chief executive and editor in chief of Esquire magazine, Phillip Moffitt walked away from it all — the glamour, the accolades, the punishing schedule — and chose instead to wake up each morning and breathe, to explore the mysteries he had always intuited.”
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The Denver Post, July 29, 2008
“Ex-N.Y. Exec Helps Others Find Balance”
By Colleen O’Connor
“When he turned 40, Phillip Moffitt walked away from the life he’d created in Manhattan as a whiz-kid entrepreneur who brought the men's magazine Esquire — hemorrhaging readers and money — back to health. He shed his professional identity, its perks and privileges, like a cheap suit.”
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FOLIO, May 30, 2008
“From Publishing CEO to Buddhist Priest to Rodale Author”
By Jason Fell
“People leave magazine publishing all the time and for all sorts of reasons. Some want to spend more time with their family. Some want to go back to school. Some leave to start their own business. Others devote themselves to Buddhism after feeling “exiled” from his own heart.”
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