Christopher
Mark Theodore (April 6, 1967 - ) is theCEO of Noble Media, a
California benefit corporation and co-founder
and Editor of The Reader Magazine, a printed newsmagazine with local
advertising mailed free to 390,000 people in Southern California which is based
in Redlands, California.
Today, he and
Dr. Hajnalka Hogue, a long-time business colleague, are building on the
regional success of the fifteen year old Reader Magazine to create what would
be the largest magazine in the world and the first in US history to reach every
American home.
Early
Life And University Studies
Christopher Theodore was born in Santa Monica, Californiato Lee
Charles Theodore, a schoolteacher, and June Louise Theodore (née Schmid) a
formersecretary to the founder of World Vision, an international humanitarian
organization.Christopher, the youngest of three sons, has one surviving
brother, Peter Lee (eldest brother Paul Charles, a married father and
schoolteacher, died of cancer in the Fall of 2014).
After graduating from The Linfield School in Southern
California, Theodore studied Economics and Fine Arts at Claremont McKenna
College in Claremont, California, earning a Bachelors of Arts and Bachelors of
Fine Arts, respectively. Upon graduation
he received the $25,000 Rotary Graduate Scholarship,which afforded him
opportunities to travel to Tahiti, Raratonga, Figi, Hawaii, Austrailia as well
as earn a graduate degree in Art History from the University of Canterbury in
New Zealand.
From his twenties to age thirty, he travelled and lived in
Europe for six years, primarily in Geneva, Switzerland (and Budapest, Hungary) where
he studiedFrench at Université de Geneve
in Switzerland and founded American
Fondue, a company which manufactured jewelry in the Czech Republic which he
and his brother Peter designed, which sold the jewelry in kiosks the two
brothers set up in the largest Swiss store chains--Placette, Globus and
Migros-- and other eastern and western European stores.
Marriage And Family
Christopher is married to Sharon
McCaffery Theodore, aretinal surgeon and ocular oncologist. The couple have three children: Maxmillian Christian Alexander, Alexander
Julian and Sophia Dune Alexandra.In the short film found on The Reader website,
“Tragedy to Life” , Theodore describes how the tragic death of their one year
old son, Alexander, dramatically altered what he sought to accomplish in life,
pushed him to examine his own motives, and determine what his life would mean.
The film centers on an imagined dialogue between Christopher and his surviving
son, Max in which Christopher explains what words on paper have accomplished
historically, and how sending a messag can sometimes awaken the great person
who lives inside each of us. Through the
story
Max learns why his father does what he does in his work
through The Reader Magazine, and how their family tragedy became “the
cornerstone of new covenant” Christopher
chose to make with the world with his life.
Nominations
In October 2015, Theodore was nominated for the 2016Patrick Soon-Shiong
Innovation Award on behalf of The Reader Magazine.
Community Work
Mr. Theodoregave an address to the student staff of The
Hobachi, the school newspaper produced for and by the students of Redlands High
School, where he also gave advice and answered questions asked by students
about the challenges related to publishing. While running The Reader heserved for a
semester as a substitute Professor of Marketing at California State University
at San Bernardino. More recently he has
spoken at the University of Redlands creative writing class.
