Gloria Scoby started out in ad sales at Crain’s Chicago Business when the periodical was launched in 1978 and went on to become publisher for multiple titles put out by the Chicago-based company.
Scoby also held leadership positions with several Chicago civic organizations.
“Some publishers are good salespeople, and others have great editorial instincts, (but) Gloria was among the few who had both,” said former Crain’s Chicago Business editor and publisher David Snyder, president and CEO of the Economic Club of Chicago. “Her ability to build confidence with advertisers — even in Crain’s earliest days — gave us the financial resources to build our newsroom and put Crain’s on the map.”
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Scoby, 77, died of complications from lung cancer Dec. 7 at her home in Rancho Mirage, California, said her husband of 49 years, Michael. She also had a home in Chicago.
Born Gloria Baker on Chicago’s South Side, Scoby grew up in the South Shore neighborhood and graduated from Bowen High School. After high school, Scoby traveled to Europe and lived in Israel for several years.
Back in Chicago, Scoby worked for a time in an entry-level job at hospitality supply firm American Hotel Register Co.and subsequently was a partner in Ruba House, a literary venture company, with journalist Marilynn Preston.
“There was no holding back Gloria — she was so raring to go and so eager to prove herself,” Preston said. “If Ruba House contributed 10 millimeters to her success, I’d be thrilled.”
In 1978, Scoby was hired as one of the first ad sales representatives for Crain’s Chicago Business.
“Gloria was instrumental to the success of Crain’s Chicago Business from her first day,” said former Crain’s Chicago Business editor Dan Miller. “Not only was she an effective salesperson who regularly led the sales team in revenue each month, she was an unwavering ally of the editorial product.
“She was particularly adamant about keeping editorial staff separate from sales staff in Crain’s early years when our reporting annoyed members of the business sector. Gloria operated with a simple mantra: the editorial product sells the newspaper.”
Scoby became advertising director and associate publisher of the weekly and in 1987 was tapped to become the publisher of the money-losing Crain’s New York Business. Under Scoby, Crain’s New York Business began turning a profit in October 1988, and she returned to Chicago in late 1989 to become publisher of Crain’s Chicago Business.
Scoby implemented a redesign of the publication and rolled out an offshoot, Crain’s Small Business, in 1993. She also worked to bring Crain’s Chicago Business into the digital world, including overseeing the launch of its website in 1994.
Scoby was promoted in 1995 to be group publisher overseeing Crain’s Chicago Business and several other company publications, including Advertising Age and Modern Healthcare.
“Under Gloria’s leadership, we went from scrappy upstart to award-winning news organization respected not just in Chicago but around the country,” Snyder said. “To me and others, she was not just your boss — she was a friend and confidant on issues related to both business and outside work.”
In 2000, she gave Snyder a $1 million budget to start an online daily business news publication.
“I remember when we were sketching out a new layout early on, she said, ‘One day there will be a TV screen in the middle,’” Snyder said. “We thought she was dreaming, but as always, she was right.”
Scoby retired from Crain’s in early 2008.
For many years, Scoby served on the board of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company, including as its chair.
“As one of the first local television executive news producers, I was already an admirer of Gloria in the journalistic arena,” fellow board member Donna LaPietra said. “It was a gift to be able to watch her up close at our (Steppenwolf) board meetings. She had a way of owning the room — with the strength of her will and incisive intelligence but also the wry sense of humor that was always at the ready.”
LaPietra recalled Scoby “commanding attention” in board meetings, “but soon you would hear her husky voice sharing a story that would have everyone laughing along with her.”
“She was direct — even in dealing with the Steppenwolf ensemble actors who had become film and TV stars,” LaPietra said. “She had the leadership qualities that gave everyone confidence in the direction she charted.”
Black Opal Beauty CEO Desiree Rogers, a longtime friend, said Scoby was a mentor who she described as “chic, determined, opinionated.”
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“Early on, I loved marketing, and Gloria would say that there is not much future there and that you need to push for a line position with profit and loss responsibility if you really want to be a success in business,” Rogers said. “I listened.”
Scoby also served for a time on the boards of the Terra Art Museum and the Journal of Atomic Scientists. During retirement in California, Scoby served on the boards of the Friends of the Philharmonic in Palm Desert and the Palm Springs Art Museum.
“She stayed involved and made a difference,” her husband said.
Two previous marriages ended in divorce. In addition to her husband, Scoby is survived by a daughter, Julie Golden; a brother, Scott Baker; a sister, Holly Bernstein; and a grandson.
Services were held.
Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
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