Donald Welsh

Welsh was born in Youngstown, Ohio.[1] His parents were Clevelle and Edward Welsh.[1]

Welsh studied at Columbia College.[2] While there, he was a member of St. Anthony Hall.[2] He then attended the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.[1]

After being admitted to the Ohio bar, he worked for the Cleveland Trust Company.[1] He soon moved on to the magazine business, starting at Fortune in the advertising department.[1] From there, he moved to Rolling Stone, rising to the position of associate publisher.[1] He went on to be the founding editor of Outside.[2]

Welsh left Outside to run the magazine division of another business group, where he focused largely on children's magazines.[1] He created more than twenty magazines, based on well-known franchises such as Looney Tunes, Mickey Mouse, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the Muppets.[2][1][3][4] He bought the division in 1987, and named it Welsh Publishing Group.[1] He sold Welsh Publishing Group to Marvel Comics in October 1994, but agreed to stay on with the company.[3]

In 1998, He co-founded Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel with Arthur Frommer.[2][1] it sold some 70,000 copies of each issue in newsstand headed toward a circulation of 400,000 by the end of 1999, but struggled to expand its presence.[5] It was sold to Newsweek in 1999.[5] In 2002, he created Budget Living magazine to critical acclaim, but not commercial success.[2] However, it won the general excellence award from the American Society of Magazine Editors.[1]

He also created the magazine ForbesLife MountainTime with Forbes.[1]

In 1996, Welsh married Bourne Floyd.[1] They lived in Boston Corner, New York.[2] They had a daughter named Leah.[1]

Welsh died of drowning, in an accident in Tortola, the British Virgin Islands at the age of 66.[1][2]