William N. Jayme ’47

Bill died on May 18, 2001, at his home in Sonoma, Calif., of emphysema. He was 75.

He came to Princeton from Peabody School in Pittsburgh, Pa. He spent WWII in Texas, writing radio shows for the Army. He returned briefly to Princeton and then spent 20 years in NYC working for Time-Life, CBS, and McCann-Erickson and writing humor pieces for Esquire, Harper's, and New York magazines.

In the late 1960s, Bill moved to California and formed a lifelong professional and personal partnership with Finnish graphic designer Heikki Ratalahti. As Jayme Ratalahti, Inc., they created promotional materials for some 35 upscale magazines, including Bon Appetit, Mother Jones, Smithsonian, and Civilization. To widen readership for Psychology Today, Bill devised a personality quiz for potential readers, the response to which was very high. In 1989 he received a lifetime achievement award from the Direct Marketing Assn.

In addition to his partner, Bill is survived by a brother, J. Phillip. To them both, the class extends its deepest sympathy.

The Class of 1947