Frank Magid... Another Side of the Man
Posted on Mon, Feb 08, 2010 @ 01:18 PM
You probably have heard of the passing of Frank Magid. Every member of the CJ&N team is a veteran of the Magid company. His death naturally brings back a lot of memories for all of us, but especially for CJ&N Partner Bruce Northcott. Here are Bruce's thoughts on Frank:
You learn a lot about a guy working at his side for twenty years... most of that time I was president of "Frank's" company. I can't count the number of people who've asked me to say something personal about Frank since he died last week. I've resisted until now.
At the heart of Frank's success was his curiosity. About human behavior and TV, of course. But it went well beyond that. How about wooden boats? Or ancient nearly forgotten cultures? You bet. And what about all those great hide outs like Wilson, Wyoming? St. Mary's Point, Minnesota? Or Long Island, Antigua? Sure.
I'll never forget the long walks (forced marches, actually) across Manhattan, San Francisco, the Tetons or even Las Vegas... part of it was his dogged fitness regimen, but most had to do with his wanting to get a closer look at the people, places and things along the way. Really, it was about his curiosity. Frank always had another question or two no matter the topic of conversation... shoes, wine, government. He was fascinated by, and wanted to know more about, just about everything.
That's what I'll remember about the guy. Not the TV stuff. Not the pressure to build "Frank's" company. Not the struggles to recruit people to live and work in Marion, Iowa. More than anything I'll think of his seemingly insatiable curiosity that was at the heart of his genius.
It was tough to break up the way we did, but there was even good news in that. It lead to the formation and success of CJ&N 12 years ago. So, thanks Frank, for teaching me a little bit about TV and a whole lot about the sort of greatness that can come from a healthy vigorous curiosity.
- Bruce Northcott