Douglaston's Own: Shepherd Mead

Shepherd Mead worked his way from a mailroom clerk to a best selling author and, in between, spent some time living in Douglaston.

The author was born and raised in St. Louis in 1914 as Edward Mead before attending Washington University.

In his early 20s, he moved to New York to work in the mailroom of advertising agency Benton & Bowles.

It was during this time that he lived in Douglaston.

Mead eventually worked his way up to vice president of the company. After 20 years with the agency, he quit his job to pursue a writing career.

In 1952, he wrote the book for which he would become famous – “How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.”

Mead wrote the book, which is a satirical self-help guide based on his experiences in advertising, as he worked at Benton & Bowles.

The book became a best seller and, in 1961, it was adapted into a Broadway musical by Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows that was significantly different from Mead’s book.

The stage production tells the story of J. Pierrepont Finch, a window washer who starts in the mailroom of a massive corporation and becomes chairman of the board within a week.

The play originally starred Robert Morse as Finch and Rudy Vallee as the company’s president, J.W. Biggley.

The play was a huge hit and ran for four years as well as won the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for best drama.

It was revived in 1995 with Matthew Broderick as Finch and again in 2011 with Daniel Radcliffe in the lead role.

In 1967, “How to Succeed” was adapted into a film that starred Morse, Vallee and Anthony ‘Scooter’ Teague.

In 1957, Mead moved to Switzerland and, one year later, to Great Britain, where he found work as an advertising consultant.

The author wrote a total 19 books, including novels “Big Ball of Wax” and “ER, or The Brassbound Beauty, The Bearded Bicyclist and the Gold-Colored Teenage Grandfather” as well as “How to Succeed in TV Without Really Trying” and “How to Get to the Future Before It Gets to You.”

Mead died in London in 1994.