Weider History Group [WHG] proudly publishes the following magazines: America's Civil War, American History, Aviation History, Armchair General, British Heritage, Civil War Times, Military History, MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, Vietnam, Wild West, and World War II. WHG also hosts HistoryNet.com on the world-wide web as well. Recently, Eric Weider and I had a chance to chat about the business of history.
The Historian Is Both Discoverer And Creator – D.J.Boorstin
RS: “I get a sense of quiet strength about you. Creating a company that’s better than, then best. Certainly being a people person doesn’t hurt a bit, but it surely seems to help you?”
EW: “I also hope that a good number of people who have worked for a Weider company will feel their lives were better because of it. I am not a noisy or loud leader. I lead quietly. I am leader of people who have to think, use their minds, to do their jobs. I need their best thinking. I can’t have them be intellectually lazy. So I try to create an environment that attracts quality people and gives them an opportunity to do their best work. My style is to set standards by which we will conduct ourselves, agree on key goals, and then allow people to do their best work. I hold them accountable for results of course but I do not micromanage them”
“It is my experience that this type of environment produces creativity, dedication, and loyalty. People work for more than money and this type of environment satisfies an important motivator for the type of people I want to work with. And therefore the company tends to succeed. I don’t pretend for a moment to be the guy with all the ideas. I want people with great ideas to come and share them. So it does make me feel good to know that I have run businesses that people feel they have had a chance to grow with and express themselves in. I want people to be proud to say, ‘I work for Weider’”.
RS: The professor who refereed my PhD dissertation told me there are ‘a pair of battles, whether it be love, life and/or war’, the first being ‘the struggle to survive’, the second, of course, ‘the struggle to succeed’. He also said that ‘all’s fair in love, life and war’. Would you agree with his assessment?”
EW: “No I don’t agree that ‘all is fair’ in the pursuit of ‘winning the battle to succeed’. I am talking about private life and business here, not war. How I accomplish something is as important to me as accomplishing it. If your success comes by cheating others for examples that isn’t good success and I don’t want it. Also short-cuts often lead to short-term success but rarely lasting success. My experience is that shortcuts almost always come back to bite you”
“It’s true that in business you sometimes have to make decisions that people don’t like and can even be hurtful to people - like firing someone - but unnecessary cruelty is never appropriate. It may sound naïve but I like to have peace of mind. And the old saying is that, ‘An honest man’s pillow is his peace of mind’. Let’s be realistic, in business you often operate in gray zones without perfect information, but I always ask myself if I could explain my actions to people that matter to me and have them approve”.
A Page Of History Is Worth A Volume Of Logic - O. W. Holmes
RS: “WHG is a privately-held corporation, correct? Are there any plans to go public at all?”
EW: “Yes, WHG is privately held and no plans to go public”.
RS: “Can you name five of your favorite nonfiction and five of your favorite fiction books?”
EW: “Five of my favorite non-fictions books include: ‘His Excellency: George Washington’ by Joseph Ellis; ‘Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West’ by Hampton Sides; ‘Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West’ by Stephen Ambrose; ‘An American Life’ by Ronald Reagan; and ‘Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief’ by James McPherson”
“I don’t read that much fiction, but a few of the books I have really enjoyed include ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’, ‘The Lord of the Flies’, ‘The Godfather’, ‘Darkness at Noon’, and ‘Marching to Valhalla”.
RS: “How about five of your favorite films and five of your favorite television shows?”
EW: “My favorite movies include; ‘Tombstone’, ‘Gettysburg’, ‘Treasure of the Sierra Madres’, ‘Patton’, ‘Appaloosa’, and ‘Last of the Mohicans’
My five favorite TV shows are: ‘COPS’, ‘American Idol’, ‘Hogan’s Heroes’, ‘Star Trek’, and ‘All in the Family’”.
RS: “Three words sum up my own advice about life: ‘Commitment, Competence and Consistency’. What words of wisdom would you want to share with readers?”
EW: “Persistence, Communication and Passion”.
You Must Always Know The Past, For There Is No Real Was, There Is Only Is – W. Faulkner
RS: “Speaking of wise words, what words of advice would you offer writers wishing to submit pieces they’ve written to the editors of WHG’s eleven periodicals?”
EW: “Read and be familiar with the magazine you want to write for, get a sense for the types of articles it tends to publish, have something new or insightful to say, tell a story not just a bunch of facts. Get in touch with the editor to offer article ideas before submitting articles - we don’t usually accept articles that come in from out of the blue. The editor develops the upcoming issues several months in advance and so the odds that you will submit something that he/she is looking for just at that moment are low. Instead, introduce yourself to the editor explaining what you are good at, provide example of past articles, and offer ideas for articles with a very brief outline”.
RS: “When Hillary Clinton’s mother recently passed away, it was revealed by Bill Clinton that his late mother-in-law was a ‘Rolling Stones groupie’ and that surprisingly it was Keith Richards, not Mick Jagger, whom she adored. I heard a rumor you yourself are a guitar, as opposed to a gun, slinger of some skill, what say you about that, Eric?”
EW: “Ha Ha, well yes, I do play guitar and I am a huge Keith Richards fan. If he got sick one night I think I could sub for him with the Stones pretty well. As it turns out, Keith is a huge history buff. He wrote in his book, ‘Life’, that when he isn’t playing guitar he is reading history. He is a big World War II buff and also a fan of England’s era of naval domination…when ‘Britannia Ruled the Waves’”.
RS: “Last but not least, is there any ‘new’ news you’d like to announce here and now on behalf of and to the benefit of our readers?”.
EW: “I don’t know if it’s ‘news’ but we are getting serious now about mapping out and making efforts in the digital arena. I remain a big believer in print magazines for specialty interest topics like history, but I do believe that there’s no denying that digital is the future. We’re firing bullets before cannonballs in this area because you can get killed by blowing huge amounts of money without results, but we are wading into that water now. Stay tuned for more info - online of course!”.
Note: The writer wishes to thank Gerald Swick, Senior Online Editor, of the Weider History Group for arranging the article/interview; and also to express my gratitude to Eric Weider for taking the time to talk.
The first part of the interview with Eric Weider can be found here.
Rick Stelnick - Rick Stelnick is a superannuated political scientist, crime historian and historical detective.
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