Willard Monroe Kiplinger (January 8, 1891 – August 6, 1967) was best known as the founder of Kiplinger, a publishing company located in Washington, D.C.
W. M. Kiplinger | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Willard Monroe Kiplinger January 18, 1891 Bellefontaine, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | August 6, 1967 (aged 76) Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. |
| Occupations |
|
Kiplinger was born in Bellefontaine, Ohio,[1] to parents Clarence E. and Cora Miller Kiplinger.[2] He grew up on the north side of Columbus, Ohio. As a high school upperclassman he was editor of the school newspaper where one of the illustrators was Dudley Fisher. He attended Ohio State University from 1908 until 1912 and was a member of Sigma Pi Fraternity. He and Ray Evans recruited Fisher into the fraternity.[3] While at OSU he was editor of the school newspaper, The Lantern.[4] When he graduated he was one of the first two journalism graduates from the school. His first job after graduation in 1913 was with the Ohio State Journal.[5]
On June 20, 1914, he married his first wife, Irene Austin of Toledo, in Lucas County, Ohio.[6] She introduced him to Unitarianism and he was a member of the church for the rest of his life.[7] Their first child, a daughter named Jane Austin, died shortly after birth in 1916.[8] They had a son named Austin[9] and a daughter named Jane Ann[10] before divorcing. He married his second wife, Lillian "LaVerne" Colwell, in Harrisonburg, Virginia on May 18, 1936.[11] They had a daughter named Bonnie.[12]
He moved to Washington, D.C. in 1916 where he worked for the Associated Press.[13] He and his family attended All Souls Unitarian Church, which was the same church William Taft attended.[7] He started the company Kiplinger in 1920 as an "intelligence bureau" for out-of-town banks and businesses. He started The Kiplinger Letter in 1923 and in 1947 began publishing Kiplinger Magazine.[4] He also donated his time as a contributing editor to The Emerald of Sigma Pi magazine.[14]
In 1942 he published a book titled Washington Is Like That which focused on the inner organization of the federal government.[15]
In 1952 he played a large role in soliciting funds and local business support to help educational television station WETA-TV begin operations.[5]
Kiplinger's son Austin H. Kiplinger succeeded him as head of the publishing company.
Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism is an award given by the National Press Foundation in his honor.[16]Laverne & Willard's daughter Bonnie had 2 children with her husband Eugene Watts, Kevin Watts in 1961, and Keith Watts 1963.
References
Further reading
- Wells, Rob. The Insider: How the Kiplinger Newsletter Bridged Washington and Wall Street (U of Massachusetts Press, 2022) online review of this book