Andrews McMeel

Andrews McMeel was originally founded as Universal Press Syndicate in 1970. Pressured by their wives, Jim Andrews and John McMeel decided to act on their long-held dream of starting their own newspaper syndicate. The company began in a rented house in Leadwood, Kansas and a one-room office on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Universal Press Syndicate became a world leader in newspaper syndication, publishing and production of gifts upon discovering their first talent—Garry Trudeau, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer of Doonesbury. In 1975, they purchased the Catholic publishing house and moved their entire operation to Kansas. As the company continued to flourish, Jim Andrews suddenly passed at the age of 44 in 1980—devastating the family and company. By 1997, the privately-held company changed its name to Andrews McMeel to reflect its diversification into magazine publishing and new media. John McMeel continued to persevere, and today Andrews McMeel is the largest independent newspaper syndicate in the world and an emerging leader in book and calendar publishing and gift and stationery merchandising.