Robb Hansell Sagendorph was for thirty-five years the epitome of New England and what it represented. As editor and publisher of Yankee magazine and the Old Farmer's Almanac, he perpetuated an ideal regarded as the spirit of New England, and he demonstrated to the rest of the nation what it was like to be a "Yankee."

Sagendorph was born in Newton Centre, Massachusetts, on 20 November 1900 to George and Jane Cooper Hansell Sagendorph. He attended the exclusive Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, Massachusetts, where he developed a deep interest in Greek and Latin. He continued his education at Harvard University, receiving his A.B. in 1922. During his undergraduate days he served as business manager of the Harvard Lampoon, an experience that would serve him well later in life. Sagendorph went on to study at the Harvard University Graduate School of Business from 1922 to 1923 but did not complete a...