Bob Towery, Publisher

email to: btowery@pubresgroup.com

During a publishing career spanning more than four decades, J. Robert Towery has set a high standard for quality across a spectrum of publishing, printing, and information technologies. The range of products he has published include books, magazines, newspapers, directories and maps; he has also provided prepress services,  printing, and Internet publishing to businesses and institutions. All of Towery’s efforts are marked by a careful, innovative design philosophy that has become a hallmark of his reputation for quality and service. During the eighties and nineties, he established himself as the country’s leading publisher of books and periodicals showcasing communities. These included works for metropolitan chambers of commerce, development organizations, government entities, as well as independently published products. He continues in that tradition with the Publishing Resources Group.

Publications, Products, and Services

From business to sports to the politically relevant, Towery has published an array of magazines, newspapers, annuals, and books that reflect the unique qualities of the communities that they have served. The largest body of his work comprises the Urban Tapestry Series, an award-winning collection of hardbound photo-journals, which he inaugurated in 1990. The series details the people, history, culture, architecture, commerce, and natural surroundings of over 100 metropolitan areas. Contributing authors in the series have included, Dan Rather, Hugh Downs, President Jimmy Carter, President Gerald Ford, and Mayor Ed Koch.

sample volumes from The Urban Tapestry Series

In addition to the Urban Tapestry Series, the range of books he has published has included such diverse publications as Unforgettable! The 100 Greatest Moments in Los Angeles Sports History, Mine Eyes Have Seen, Memphis Judge D'Army Bailey's special remembrance of his participation in the civil rights movement; and Data Power, a guide to computerized auto racing systems.

Towery has also developed a range of graphic design, image manipulation, prepress and Internet services ensuring the production of quality products across the publishing spectrum.

A brief personal history

A 1969 graduate of Rhodes College, Towery was raised in the suburbs of Memphis where his family operated a well-regarded community newspaper. Towery began working in the business as an apprentice printer and reporter while in high school and assumed control of it in 1972. In 1975, he expanded by founding Memphis Magazine, which he published for ten years.  During that time the magazine won more design and journalism awards than any other city or regional magazine in the country, including the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service in Magazine Journalism.

In 1985, having sold most of his locally focused publishing products, Towery expanded the scope of his publishing interests by founding Towery Publishing, which he developed into a nationwide, service-journalism enterprise publishing a diverse array of books, magazines, city guides, and websites.

By the mid nineties Towery Publishing was North America's largest supplier of publishing services to city development organizations and metropolitan chambers of commerce and in 1998 the company was recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the 25 best medium sized technology companies in America. Towery sold that enterprise in 2001.

A long-time community activist, Towery was a member of the first graduating class of Leadership Memphis in 1979 and has continued to support the activities of that institution. He has worked with numerous civic and cultural groups as well as serving on the boards of a number of institutions including Playhouse on the Square, the Memphis Urban Arts Commission, the Memphis College of Art and 5 years as a Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Memphis Chamber of Commerce.

Towery is married, the father of two and has pursued a number of avocations as fervently as his career in publishing. His enthusiasms have included sailing and kayaking as well as martial arts, in which he holds a 4th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He was a successful, professional racecar driver, retiring after having won the International Motorsports Association's North American Sports Car Team Championship in 1998 and today frequently instructs in high-performance driving and racing techniques.