Raised in an affluent household in New York, Mr. Sargent started in the mid-1940s at Doubleday as a copywriter after being discharged from the Navy at the end of World War II and remained with the company for 40 years, serving as chairman and CEO from 1963 to 1978.
Mr. Sargent was known as a serious and eclectic thinker and an accomplished reveler who dined out most nights and was equally comfortable with authors, movie stars, or socialites.
He edited award-winning poetry by Theodore Roethke and published such best-sellers as King's Carrie (although the book was far more popular as a paperback released by the New American Library), Peter Benchley's Jaws, and Alex Haley's Roots. He also presided over Doubleday's network of radio stations, book clubs, and bookstores.
A notable addition to Doubleday came through his friendship with Onassis, who in the mid-1970s had resigned as an editor with Viking after the publisher purchased a novel that imagined an assassination plot against Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, her former brother-in-law. She soon joined Doubleday, where her authors included Michael Jackson, who signed with the publisher for his memoir Moonwalk.
Mr. Sargent was close to Onassis, and they were often rumored to be romantically involved. - AP
