{{short description|American publisher}} ''' Lloyd Lawrence "Larry" Sloan''' (1922 – October 14, 2012) was an American publisher of Mad Libs and co-founder of the Los Angeles publishing company, Price Stern Sloan, which opened in the early 1960s.<ref name=latimes>{{cite news|first=Valerie J.|last=Nelson|title=Larry Sloan dies at 89; co-founder of 'Mad Libs' publisher|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2012-oct-17-la-me-larry-sloan-20121017-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=2012-10-17 |access-date=2012-11-17}}</ref><ref name=time>{{cite news|first=Regina|last=Wang|title='Mad Libs' Publisher Larry Sloan Dies |url=https://newsfeed.time.com/2012/10/18/mad-libs-publisher-larry-sloan-dies/ |work=Time Magazine |date=2012-10-18 |access-date=2012-11-17}}</ref><ref name=pw>{{cite news|first=Wendy|last=Werris|title=Obituary: Larry Sloan, 89 |url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/obituaries/article/54394-obituary-larry-sloan-89.html |work=Publishers Weekly |date=2012-10-15 |access-date=2012-11-17}}</ref>
==Biography== Sloan was born Lloyd Lawrence Solomon to a Jewish family in New York City in 1922, the son of Joseph Solomon and Freida Lewis Solomon.<ref name=latimes/> His mother opened a clothing business and his father was a graduate of Columbia Law School 1908 lawyer. Sloan and his parents moved to Los Angeles after his only sibling, Grenna Sloan, moved to California to pursue an acting career.<ref name=latimes/> Larry Sloan initially studied at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), but soon left college to enlist in the United States Army following the outbreak of World War II. He later attended Stanford University, where he studied Chinese language.<ref name=latimes/>
He returned to Los Angeles after the war. Sloan became a columnist for the ''Hollywood Citizen News'' and a reporter for several magazines covering Hollywood's entertainment and gossip industries.<ref name=latimes/> Sloan's connections led to a career transition as a press agent and publicist representing Carol Channing, Mae West, and Elizabeth Taylor, among others.<ref name=latimes/><ref name=pw/>
In 1958, television writer Leonard B. Stern and comedian Roger Price launched ''Mad Libs'', a word game book series which the duo had first invented in 1953.<ref name=time/> Stern and Price had named the game "Mad Libs" after overhearing an argument between an actor and talent agent at a New York City restaurant.<ref name=time/> In the 1960s, Price and Stern partnered with Larry Sloan, a friend from high school, to found Price Stern Sloan, a publishing company based in Los Angeles which published Mad Libs.<ref name=latimes/> Sloan served as the company's first CEO.<ref name=latimes/> Stern later noted in a 1994 ''Washington Post'' interview that Sloan "eventually became the business man behind Mad Libs."<ref name=latimes/> The company headquartered on La Cienega Boulevard in West Hollywood.<ref name=latimes/>
Under Sloan, Price Stern Sloan became one of the largest publishing houses on the West Coast of the United States.<ref name=pw/> In addition to releasing more than 70 editions of ''Mad Libs'' under Sloan, the company also published 150 softcover books under Sloan by 1973.<ref name=latimes/><ref name=time/><ref name=pw/> While simultaneously serving as CEO, Sloan also edited manuscripts submitted for publication.<ref name=latimes/> He personally edited a series of joke books called, ''World's Worst Jokes''.<ref name=latimes/> Sloan created and published the successful book, "''The VIP Desk Diary'', after asking himself "''What would somebody's desk diary look like if they were the richest man in the world?''"<ref name=latimes/> Other successful titles, many of which were humorous, released under Sloan was ''How to Be a Jewish Mother'', written by Dan Greenburg and first released in 1965 and ''Droodles'', which was also created by Roger Price.<ref name=latimes/><ref name=time/><ref name=pw/> Still, ''Mad Libs'' proved to be one of the company's most successful products, with 110 million copies sold as of 2012.<ref name=pw/>
Larry Sloan further launched Price Stern Sloan's "Wee Sing" product line in the late 1970s.<ref name=latimes/> Sloan had found a handmade children's book of the same name, which led to a successful line of books, videos, and audio releases, including ''Wee Sing Video Series'' and ''Wee Sing in Sillyville''.<ref name=latimes/>
Price Stern Sloan partner and ''Mad Libs'' co-creator Roger Price died in 1990. In 1993, Leonard Stern and Larry Sloan sold Price Stern Sloan to Putnam Berkley Group, which is now known as Penguin Group.<ref name=latimes/><ref name=pw/>
Sloan and Stern later co-founded Tallfellow Press, a publishing company specializing in business books based in Beverly Hills.<ref name=latimes/> Sloan's daughter, Claudia Sloan, continues to head Tallfellow, as of 2012.<ref name=latimes/>
Larry Sloan died from a brief illness at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on October 14, 2012, at the age of 89.<ref name=latimes/> He was the last surviving founder of Price Stern Sloan, as Leonard Stern had died in 2011.<ref name=latimes/> Sloan was survived by his wife of thirty-nine years, Eleanor; five children - Claudia Sloan, Bonnie Smigel-Derin, Liz Fallert, Amy Harrison and Scott Harrison; and six grandchildren.<ref name=latimes/> He had been a longtime resident of Malibu, California.<ref name=latimes/>
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sloan, Larry}} Category:1922 births Category:2012 deaths Category:American publishers (people) Category:American public relations people Category:20th-century American Jews Category:United States Army personnel of World War II Category:Journalists from New York City Category:21st-century American Jews Category:Mass media people from Malibu, California Category:Journalists from Malibu, California Category:Military personnel from Malibu, California