Cover Story: What's F.A. Davis Doing Right?
It was known as the Green Room, a relic of 1960s-era decorating—felt walls and all—that served for decades as prime meeting space on the first floor of Philadelphia health sciences book publisher F.A. Davis Co. While nobody mourned its passing when it was finally renovated two years ago, it was believed that the demise of the groovy grotto warranted the creation of a commemorative plaque, handed out around the office at the holidays. Amid photos and an actual mounted green wall swatch was engraved a promise to hereby “stop meeting like this.” The plaques do more than inspire an affectionate chuckle. Like the large photo of employees standing in front of company headquarters in 1968 that occupies the wall behind company President Robert H. Craven Jr.’s desk, they serve as a reminder of the unique legacy and continuity of F.A. Davis, one of the few remaining independent health sciences book publishers.