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'' (sometimes 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 and transportation o ...
'', 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. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
Sesquicentennial
An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints. ...
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. UNI offers more than 90 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences and grad ...
. 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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