From 1948 to 1954, Tower worked as a sports reporter for The Cincinnati Enquirer. He then joined the fledgling Sports Illustrated magazine where he served as horse racing editor for twenty-two years, during which time he received the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's magazine writing award.
In 1976, Tower, along with E. Barry Ryan, founded Classic magazine, a publication dedicated to Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing as well as show jumping events. The magazine reported on horse racing matters not only from North America but from around the world as well, and won Media Eclipse Awards in 1976-77. Following the magazine's closure, Tower joined the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga Springs, New York, serving as its president from 1982 to 1989 and for ten years was chairman of the Museum's Hall of Fame committee.
Personal life
Whitney Tower and his first wife, Frances Cheston Train, had four children:
Alexandra "Alix" Tower Thorne, formerly married to Daniel Kempner Thorne,[2] also previously married to Jonathan Marshall Hornblower.[3]
Whitney Tower Jr.
Frances Tower-Thacher, widow of the late construction fraud lawyer, Thomas "Toby" Thacher II.[4]
Harry Payne Tower, who married Hilary Harlow.[5][1]
With his third wife, Lucy Niblack Lyle[6]
Tower had two more children: Aurora and Alfred Tower.
Whitney Tower was a resident of Saratoga Springs, where he died in 1999 of complications from a stroke. He was survived by his third wife, Lucy Niblack Lyle.[1]