Born Philip Merrill Levine, he was a graduate of Cornell University and Harvard Business School. At Cornell, he was managing editor of "The Cornell Daily Sun" and a member of the Quill and Dagger society. He was president and CEO of Capital-Gazette Communications, Inc., which publishes "Washingtonian" magazine, the Annapolis "Capital", and five other Maryland newspapers. His wife, Eleanor, succeeded him as chairman of the company which they sold after his death to Landmark Communications; their daughter Catherine Merrill Williams took over as president and publisher of the "Washingtonian".