Wyse, Lois 1926–2007

(Lois Helene Wyse)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born October 30, 1926, in Cleveland, OH; died of stomach cancer, July 6, 2007, in New York, NY. Advertising executive and author. Wyse achieved her greatest career success as an advertising executive. She also wrote more than sixty books, which, with the exception of a novel or two, were rarely about the world of advertising and business. Wyse and her then-husband created Wyse Advertising in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1951, adding an office in New York City in 1966. Wyse served as the president and creative director for many years. Her most recognizable successes were the long-running slogan "With a name like Smucker's, it has to be good" and her renaming of a small chain of home-goods stores from "Bed and Bath" to "Bed, Bath & Beyond." During her business career Wyse was a founding member of the Committee of 200, a gathering of women executives, and Catalyst, a research organization that focused on topics of interest to women. Over the years Wyse's work spread well beyond the boardroom. She created a magazine column, "The Way We Are," that appeared in Good Housekeeping for thirteen years, ending in 1998. Wyse also produced dozens of books. At least eighteen of them could be classified as uplifting or motivational booklets of verse intended for the greeting-card market. Some others, like The Rosemary Touch (1974) and Kiss, Inc. (1977), are novels drawn on her own expertise regarding the advertising industry. At least a half-dozen are children's books, and several others, like Funny, You Don't Look Like a Grandmother (1989) and Family Ties: The Legacy of Love (2001), are anecdotal collections about family life and topics related to living (and aging) as a woman in contemporary society. One of the handful of nonfiction books directly related to Wyse's years in the business world is called Company Manners: How to Behave in the Workplace in the '90s.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, July 8, 2007, sec. 4, p. 6.

Los Angeles Times, July 7, 2007, p. B11.

New York Times, July 7, 2007, p. B10.