Webster E. Schott

Webster began his career in advertising, working for Potts-Woodbury, Inc. and Roberts & Smith, Inc. in Kansas City. In 1959 he was hired by Joyce Hall at Hallmark Cards as Editorial Director and in-time became Vice President, Executive Editor and Publisher. In 1972 he left Hallmark Cards and co-founded April House with his friend Herbert Jacobs. April House was a publisher and manufacturer of paper and wood gift products. From 1976 to 1979 he was Vice President of Creative, Research, and Product Analysis at American Greetings Corporation. From 1979 to his retirement in 1987 he was Vice President of Marketing and Creative Services at Gibson Greeting Cards in Cincinnati.

Webster was a freelance journalist, contributing book reviews and articles to The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post Book World, Saturday Review, LIFE magazine (1965-1973), TIME magazine (1968-1969), The New Republic, The Nation, The Christian Science Monitor, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Kansas City Star and others. He was Literary Editor of Focus/Midwest (1963-1967), Editor of “Poetry for Pleasure” (Doubleday, 1960) and “Imaginations” (New Directions,1970). In 2010 he wrote the introduction to Dean Walley’s book “Out of Hannibal.” He knew many literary figures including poets William Carlos Williams, W.H. Auden and Winfield Townley Scott, and author Evan S. Connell. He recently had the pleasure of sharing his insights and Connell’s letters with Kansas City writer and editor Steve Paul who is completing a book about Connell.

Webster was born on September 8, 1927 in Belleville, Illinois. His father and mother were Adolf Webster Schott and Esther Christmann. He spoke often to his children about growing up in poverty with his brother Noel, his father’s strong work ethic, his mother’s compassion, and his uncle who was an avid reader and fostered his interest in books. As a young child with rheumatic fever and resulting bedrest, he became a voracious reader and lover of literature. The first family member to obtain a college degree, Webster graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri in Columbia in 1948. He met his wife, Naoma Jean Wachter, at the University of Missouri in 1945. They were married for 67 years until her death in 2016. He never stopped missing her.

Webster was proud of being a founding member of the ACLU in Kansas City. He was also proud of his literary coverage of the equality and civil rights movements. In 1967, two years before the Stonewall Riots, he wrote an article entitled “Civil Rights and the Homosexual: A 4-Million Minority Asks for Equal Rights” which was published in The New York Times. In the early 1970s he was a member of the Literary Advisory Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Webster is survived by his three children: Marya Schott (husband Mike Kalny), Romaine Schott (partner Mark Vollmer), and Eric Schott (partner Teri Nguyen); six grandchildren: Ian Howell (partner Miranda Greener), Collin Howell (wife Jessica Howell), Gretchen Grebe (partner Ben Koons), Nicholas Grebe (partner Helene Schwartz), Melody Schott (partner Justin Llanes), and Marissa Schott); four great grandchildren: Jorden Howell, Austin Lane, James Howell, and Sienna Garcia; his niece Lisa Schott, his former daughter-in-law Brenda Akao-Wedin, caregiver Lois Jones, longtime friend Lewis Casson, Botteron family members, and Wachter family members.

His family suggests contributions to Planned Parenthood of Great Plains (www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-great-plains) Kansas Advocates for Better Care (www.kabc.org) and Kansas City Public Television/KCPBS (www.kansascitypbs.org).