Mr. Thayer was born in Philadelphia. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1955 and in 1958 received a diploma in international business administration from the University of Geneva.
He spent a year in residence at the London School of Economics in 1963‐64 and the following year was a research assistant to Randolph S. Churchill working on the biography of Sir Winston Churchill.
Mr. Thayer served as a speechwriter for Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller of New York in 1968, for Senator Claiborne Pell, Democrat of Rhode Island, in 1969, and for Representative Lawrence R. Coughlin, Republican of Pennsylvania, from 1969 until last year.
His book reviews and ar ticles appeared in Harpers magazine, The Washington Post, The Washington Monthly and The London Observer.