Willard Monroe Kiplinger (January 8, 1891 – August 6, 1967) IP-ling-erwas best known as the founder of

Kiplinger Kiplinger ( ) is an American publisher of business forecasts and personal finance advice that is a subsidiary of Future plc. Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc., was a closely held company managed for more than nine decades by three generations o ...

, a publishing company located in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Kiplinger was born in

Bellefontaine, Ohio Bellefontaine ( ) is a city in Logan County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located 48 miles (77 km) northwest of Columbus, the population was 14,115 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Bellefontaine micropolit ...

, to parents Clarence E. and Cora Miller Kiplinger. He grew up on the north side of

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

. As a high school upperclassman he was editor of the school newspaper where one of the illustrators was

Dudley Fisher Dudley Tyng Fisher Jr. (April 27, 1890 – July 10, 1951) was a syndicated newspaper cartoonist, best known for his character Myrtle who was introduced in his Sunday page, '' Right Around Home'', distributed by King Features Syndicate under vari ...

. He attended

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

from 1908 until 1912 and was a member of

Sigma Pi Sigma Pi () is a collegiate fraternity in North America. As of 2021, it had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 118,000 alumni. The fraternity is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded on February 26, 1897, at Vincennes Uni ...

Fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...

. He and

Ray Evans Raymond Bernard Evans (February 4, 1915 – February 15, 2007) was an American songwriter best known for being a half of a composing-songwriting duo with Jay Livingston, specializing himself in writing lyrics for film songs. On music Livingston ...

recruited Fisher into the fraternity. While at OSU he was editor of the school newspaper, ''

The Lantern ''The Lantern'' is an independent daily newspaper in Columbus, Ohio, published by students at Ohio State University. It is one of the largest campus newspapers in the United States, reaching a circulation of 15,000. Copies of the paper are fre ...

''. 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 ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' was a daily morning newspaper in Columbus, Ohio published by the Scripps Howard company. It was formed in 1959 by the merger of ''The Columbus Citizen'' and ''The Ohio State Journal''. It shared printing facilit ...

''. On June 20, 1914, he married his first wife, Irene Austin of

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

, in

Lucas County, Ohio Lucas County is a Counties of the United States, county located in the Northwest Ohio, northwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is bordered to the east by Lake Erie, and to the southeast by the Maumee River, which runs to the lake. As o ...

. She introduced him to

Unitarianism Unitarianism () is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian sect of Christianity. Unitarian Christians affirm the wikt:unitary, unitary God in Christianity, nature of God as the singular and unique Creator deity, creator of the universe, believe that ...

and he was a member of the church for the rest of his life. Their first child, a daughter named Jane Austin, died shortly after birth in 1916. They had a son named Austin and a daughter named Jane Ann before divorcing. He married his second wife, Lillian "LaVerne" Colwell, in

Harrisonburg, Virginia Harrisonburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is also the county seat of the surrounding Rockingham Cou ...

on May 18, 1936. They had a daughter named Bonnie. He moved to

in 1916 where he worked for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

. He and his family attended All Souls Unitarian Church, which was the same church

William Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...

attended. He started the company

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''. He also donated his time as a

contributing editor A contributing editor is a newspaper, magazine or online job title that varies in its responsibilities. Often, but not always, a contributing editor is a "high-end" freelancer, consultant, or expert who has proven ability and has readership dra ...

to ''The Emerald of Sigma Pi'' magazine. In 1942 he published a book titled ''Washington Is Like That'' which focused on the inner organization of the federal government. In 1952 he played a large role in soliciting funds and local business support to help educational television station

WETA-TV WETA-TV (channel 26) is the primary PBS member television station in Washington, D.C. Owned by the Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association, it is a sister station to NPR member WETA (90.9 FM). The two outlets share stu ...

begin operations. Kiplinger's son

Austin H. Kiplinger Austin H. Kiplinger (19 September 1918 – 20 November 2015) was an American journalist and businessman. He was the son of W. M. Kiplinger and Irene Austin. His father was the founder of Kiplinger Washington Editors, publishers of ''The Kiplinge ...

succeeded him as head of the publishing company. Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism is an award given by the

National Press Foundation The National Press Foundation is a nonprofit journalism training organization. It educates journalists on complex issues and trains them in reporting tools and techniques. It recognizes and encourages excellence in journalism through its awards. ...

in his honor. Laverne & Willard's daughter Bonnie had 2 children with her husband Eugene Watts, Kevin Watts in 1961, and Keith Watts 1963.

References

External links

Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism
Award
Background

Kiplinger Website "About Us" page

History and Background of the Kiplinger Program at Ohio State University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiplinger, W. M. Ohio State University School of Communication alumni 1891 births 1967 deaths Newsletter publishers (people) People from Bellefontaine, Ohio People from Columbus, Ohio 20th-century American newspaper publishers (people) Sigma Pi members

References

Further reading

External links