Chicago ? Jack Maher, who served more than three decades as publisher of respected jazz magazine Down Beat and its parent company, Maher Publications, has died. He was 78.

Maher died Friday at Good Samaritan Hospital in suburban Downers Grove. The cause of death was not specified.

“Jack Maher was a cheerleader, a taskmaster, a visionary, a curmudgeon when he wanted to be, and your grandfather when he wanted to be,” said staffer Frank Alkyer, whom Maher appointed last year as his successor as publisher.

Maher was credited with transforming Down Beat into a leading forum on jazz.

The magazine was founded in 1934 to chronicle the comings and goings of touring swing bands.

A previous owner forfeited the magazine to his printer, Maher’s father, John Maher.

After his father died in 1968, Jack Maher put up his own money to acquire Down Beat, outbidding Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.

Maher is survived by his wife, Pat, a sister and six children.