Jan Viktor White, an architect who became one of the world's leading magazine designers, passed away on December 30. Born in Prague in 1928, he left Czechoslovakia for London with his mother, Karla Weiss, to join his father, the renowned architect and illustrator Emil Weiss, who had left six months earlier. He received a full scholarship to the Leighton Park School, where his talents in drawing and sculpture were quickly recognized. Upon emigrating to the United States in 1947, he studied architecture at Cornell and Columbia. He worked in magazine design at Time Inc., ultimately leaving to start a very successful independent magazine consultancy and practice in Westport CT. He wrote 21 books on various aspects of magazine design including Editing By Design, the seminal book in the field. He was twice married, first to Ruth Kessler with whom he had two sons Charles N. (Toby) White of Delray Beach, FL and Alexander W. White of Westport CT and then to Clare Mallon, with whom he also had two sons Gregory F. White of Dover MA and Christopher V. White of Hartford CT. He was a renaissance man in the truest sense. Among his many passions were writing, travel he and his beloved Clare visited over 60 countries sculpture, and drawing. He was the family historian, producing a dozen meticulously researched, detailed, and illustrated books on the subject. He was a very proud member of the Century Association where he served actively on several committees and was a dedicated participant in the Sketch Club. He is survived by his four sons and seven grandchildren (Morgan, Courtney, Alexandra, Emma, Andrew, Reis, and McKenzie). His professional impact and influence on the field of magazine design, and more importantly the irreplaceable impact he had on his family and friends, will be profoundly missed. Friends may greet the family on Thursday January 8, 2015 at 1:00 PM in Norwalk's Hoyt-Cognetta Funeral Home & Crematory, 5 East Wall Street. Interment will follow in Lakeview Cemetery, New Canaan. Please visit www.norwalkfh.com for more information.
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