In his 2008 article in "The New Yorker", Van Doren revealed that he had actually been contemplating the "Britannica" job even at the height of his celebrity. His father had suggested the possibility to him during a long walk around the farmlands they both loved. The elder Van Doren mentioned to his son that Adler, the philosopher and a member of "Britannica"s board of editors, had spoken of making Van Doren its editor-in-chief. Van Doren eventually accepted the job, he would write, by way of intercession from a former college roommate. Van Doren retired from "Britannica" in 1982.