Dead for a Day

Back in 1954, two years after John Fox bought the ailing Boston Post, he predicted confidently: "One of the papers now in Boston will not be here on Christmas Eve." Last week, only 18 months behind schedule, Fox's forecast came true. The 125-year-old Post closed down.

Though Financial Juggler Fox, 49, had injected new life into the Post, circulation and advertising dropped (TIME, July 9). Fox himself still owed $1,000,000 of the $3,200,000 he agreed to pay for the paper. Last week, after Fox turned down

Boston Attorney John S. Bottomly's offer to buy the Post, he folded the paper.

But the Post mortem proved premature. Next day Attorney Bottomly, 34-year-old principal in a group of "public-spirited" buyers, met again with Fox and got a 24-day option to buy the Post (for a reported $1,500,000). Bottomly put up $100,000 for his option, agreed to settle the Post's $44,000 back income-tax bill; Fox promised employees some $35,000 in back pay. With its Sunday edition, the day-old corpse resumed publishing.

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