Martin Conroy, 1922-2006: One of the Great Copywriters of our Era

It pains me to write about death on this blog two posts in a row, but I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the passing of Martin Conroy on December 19.

I found out late Christmas day after noticing an unusual number of searches for his name that came to other posts containing his name on this blog.

If you're not familiar with the name, Martin Conroy penned what direct marketing virtuoso Denny Hatch de facto confirmed was THE most profitable advertisement of all time: The famous "two young men" letter which sold over $1 billion in subscriptions to the Wall Street Journal.

Direct marketing consultant James Rosenfeld waxed eloquent about this letter to the New York Times, as he was quoted in an obituary in the December 22 edition:

“It’s the ‘Hamlet,’ the ‘Iliad,’ the ‘Divine Comedy’ of direct-mail letters. It’s had a longer life, to my knowledge, than any other direct mail [letter] in history.”

It's funny in a bittersweet way.  When you write a letter that makes a fortune or two, you have this fleeting feeling of being immortal.

It's fleeting, all right.  But it's a great feeling while it lasts.

Respects to the late Mr. Conroy and his family.  And may we all have even a taste of the banquet at which Mr. Conroy dined.

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

Comments

[Jim Van Wyck]

Thanks for noting this, Mr Garfinkel....
I had not heard of the passing of Mr. Conroy.

His work was important to me
and my businesses in many ways,
but two stand out more than most.

#1. I shared a love of the simple
narrative style of his most famous
letter ... and totally "swiped" it
for several pieces I did in the
weight loss businesses I ran in
the late '90s.

That specific swipe was worth
many hundreds of thousands of dollars in gross sales
for us, and that's a wonderful thing.

#2. More importantly,
I learned that when an ad
TELLS A STORY
more people will read it.

I believe this is one of
the most important lessons
in all of human relationships
and communication.

If you really want folks
to listen to what you have to say....
then perhaps taking the time
to craft a tight, interesting,
entertaining and MEANINGFUL STORY,
is something worth doing.

RIP Mr. Conroy.

And thanks for the reminder
of how to connect with people.

Jim