John Allan Carpenter (born May 11, 1917 – May 11, 2003) was an American non-fiction author. He was a prolific writer with more than 225 books to his credit. By 1990, his four ''Enchantment'' series were approaching 10 million copies printed.
Among his accomplishments is the founding of the national magazine ''The Teachers Digest''. At the age of 21, he was the director of public relations for ''
Popular Mechanics
''Popular Mechanics'' (often abbreviated as ''PM'' or ''PopMech'') is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do it yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation an ...
'', a position he held for 19 years. Among his many writings are the sixteen-volume ''Popular Mechanics Home Handyman Encyclopedia'', the 52-volume ''Enchantment of America'' state series and his 38-volume ''Enchantment of Africa'' series. His book: ''Illinois: Land of Lincoln'', was the official book of the
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
Sesquicentennial
An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded.
Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the date of independence of the nation or the adoption o ...
Celebration in 1968. In 1993, he co-authored ''
World Almanac of the U.S.A.''.
“For more than twenty-five years, intermittently, he served as clerk of Session of the Second Presbyterian Church in Evanston, Illinois.” He has been a member of many non-professional symphony orchestras including the Chicago Business Men's Orchestra. He was a founder and president of the Music Council of Metropolitan Chicago. In 1988, Carpenter received a Life Achievement Award from the
University of Northern Iowa
The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States. UNI offers more than 90 majors across five colleges. The fall 2024 total enrollment was 9,283 students.
The university was initially founded in 1 ...
. He was president of the Society of Wilson Descendants for more than forty years. Carpenter was a Life Member of the Illinois St. Andrew society.
[''The Scottish-American History Club Newsletter'', October 1998, page 2.]
References
External links
* https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/carpenter-allan
* https://digitalmaine.com/maine_writers_correspondence/157/
1917 births
2003 deaths
Writers from Iowa
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