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Introductory bio of J. Robert Towery
email: btowery@comcast.net

During a publishing career spanning more than three decades, J. Robert Towery has set a high standard for quality across a spectrum of publishing, printing, and information technologies. The range of products he has published and delivered include soft-cover and hardcover books, business directories, magazines, maps, prepress services,  printing, and Internet publishing that have reached an international audience. All of Towery’s efforts are marked by a careful, innovative design philosophy that has become a hallmark of his reputation for quality and service. In the past decade he has established himself as the country’s leading publisher of books and periodicals showcasing communities. These have included works for metropolitan chambers of commerce, development organizations, government entities, as well as independently published products.

The Urban Tapestry series

From business to sports and from politically relevant to family conscious, Towery has published an array of magazines, newspapers, annuals, and books that reflect the unique qualities of the communities that they have served. The largest body of his work comprises the Urban Tapestry Series, an award-winning collection of oversized, hardbound photo-journals, which he inaugurated in 1990. The series details the people, history, culture, architecture, commerce, and natural surroundings of various metropolitan areas. A celebration of the diversity of life in cities across the United States and Canada, this collection highlighted a community through three basic elements: an introductory essay by a noted, local individual, an exquisite collection of four-color photographs, and profiles of the corporations, businesses, and community service organization. Towery has published over 100 Urban Tapestry Series books for cities throughout North America. Authors in the series have included, Dan Rather, Hugh Downs, President Jimmy Carter, President Gerald Ford, and Mayor Ed Koch.

                Other publications, products, and services

In addition to the Urban Tapestry Series, the range of books he has published has included such diverse publications as Unforgettable! The 100 Greatest Moments in Los Angeles Sports History, Mine Eyes Have Seen, Memphis Judge D’Army Bailey’s special remembrance of his participation in the civil rights movement; and Data Power, a guide to computerized auto racing systems.

            Capitalizing on his years of printing and publishing experience, Towery also developed a range of graphic design, image manipulation, and other prepress services. With a strong base of traditional print products to his credit, he began serving as a major publisher for the Internet in 1995. From high-quality editorial and graphic design to print management and cutting-edge electronic publishing, Towery has always brought together the expertise to ensure quality products and services in all his endeavors.

 

Current Endeavors

          Over the past five years Towery has provided consulting services to a number of publishers and he currently serves on the boards of two publishing companies, Contemporary Media (publisher of Memphis Magazine and Memphis Flyer; www.memphismagazine.com) and Challenger Corporation (publisher of continuing medical educational materials; www.chall.com).  

            Having done extensive consulting in the publishing industry, he has also developed a financial management program for publishers, QuartoSeer©, designed to project the performance of published products over a period of years from conception to profitability. QuartoSeer© will project up to 60 different editions of a published product in up to 60 different venues for 72 months, creating both cash flow and ebitda statements along with a wealth of practical management data.

       In addition to these involvements, Towery is a principal in a new venture, Books à la Carte, which provides publishing services to the cook book industry. The launch of this endeavor promises to provide a new level of service to individuals and institutions publishing cook books while introducing them to unprecedented economies.

       Recently, Towery purchased a specialty sports car development company headquarted in Memphis. The company, which has enjoyed a 25 year history serving the rotary powered Mazda RX7 market has been known as RX7Heaven. Towery has expanded its scope to include a broader range of vehicles and services. The newly established corporation, AutoSport Dreams LLC, operates under the long established trade name of RX7Heaven as well as the newly coined Redline Unlimited, a market identity the company is cultivating to duplicate its success with the RX7 for other cars including the Miata and the RX8.

A Brief Personal History

          A 1969 graduate of Rhodes College, Towery was raised in the suburbs of Memphis where his family operated a well-regarded community newspaper. Towery began working in the business as an apprentice printer and reporter while in high school and assumed control of it in 1972. Three years later he expanded by founding Memphis Magazine, which he published for ten years.  During that time the magazine won more design and journalism awards than any other city or regional magazine in the country, including the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service in Magazine Journalism.

          In 1985, having sold most of his locally focused publishing products, Towery once again expanded the scope of his publishing interests by founding Towery Publishing, which he developed into a nationwide, service-journalism enterprise. This move has bred a diverse array of magazines, city guides, membership directories, and books. Towery expanded the business rapidly in the world of web publishing by creating the American Community Network and a number of interactive newcomer’s guides published on the Internet and known as IntroCities. In 2000 the company was recognized by Inc. magazine as one of the 25 best medium sized technology companies in America.

          By the end of the decade of the nineties, Towery Publishing was the largest supplier of publishing services to metropolitan chambers of commerce in the country. Towery sold the enterprise in August of 2001, to Baretz Publishing LLC a wholly owned subsidiary of the Oxford Companies of Chicago.

            Towery was a member of the first graduating class of Leadership Memphis in 1979 and has continued to support the activities of that institution. He has worked with numerous civic and cultural groups as well as serving on the boards of a number of institutions including the Memphis College of Art, Playhouse on the Square, the Memphis Urban Arts Commission, and 5 years as a Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Memphis Chamber of Commerce.

            Towery is married, the father of two and has pursued a number of avocations as fervently as his career in publishing. He was a successful, professional racecar driver, retiring after having won the International Motorsports Association’s North American Sports Car Team Championship in 1998 and today frequently instructs budding racers. He is also a practiced martial artist, holding a 4th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.