Wilfred John Funk (March 20, 1883 – June 1, 1965) was an American writer,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoreti ...

and publisher. He was president of

Funk & Wagnalls Funk & Wagnalls was an American publisher known for its reference works, including ''A Standard Dictionary of the English Language'' (1st ed. 1893–5), and the ''Funk & Wagnalls Standard Encyclopedia'' (25 volumes, 1st ed. 1912).Funk & Wagnalls N ...

from 1925 to 1940, and founded the publishing company Wilfred Funk, Inc.

Personal life

Funk was the only son of Funk & Wagnalls' founder

Isaac Kaufmann Funk Isaac Kaufmann Funk (September 10, 1839April 4, 1912) was an American Lutheran minister, editor, lexicographer, publisher, and spelling reformer. He was the co-founder of Funk & Wagnalls Company, the father of author Wilfred J. Funk (who fou ...

. He graduated from

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

in 1909, and joined the family firm. He married Eleanor Hawkins on July 29, 1915. He had a wealthy lifestyle. His main residence was in

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As ...

, a suburb of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. His

beach house Beach House is an American musical duo formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 2004. The band consists of Victoria Legrand (vocals, keyboards) and Alex Scally (guitar, keyboard, backing vocals). Their self-titled debut album was released in 2006 t ...

"Cobble Court" in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

was a society venue in the Hamptons summer season. Several tax-efficient trusts Funk created for his wife were the subject of dispute with the Tax Office, ending in a

Court of Appeals A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

decision in 1950. His son Wilfred J. Funk, Jr was killed in August 1943 in

Operation Cottage Operation Cottage was a tactical maneuver which completed the Aleutian Islands campaign. On August 15, 1943, Allied military forces landed on Kiska Island, which had been occupied by Japanese forces since June 1942. The Japanese, however, h ...

, the assault on

Kiska Kiska ( ale, Qisxa, russian: Кыска) is one of the Rat Islands, a group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. It is about long and varies in width from . It is part of Aleutian Islands Wilderness and as such, special permission is required ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Wilfred Funk died of

arteriosclerosis Arteriosclerosis is the thickening, hardening, and loss of elasticity of the walls of Artery, arteries. This process gradually restricts the blood flow to one's organs and tissues and can lead to severe health risks brought on by atherosclerosis ...

in Montclair.

Early work

Funk became president of Funk & Wagnalls in 1925. In 1933, ''Time'' magazine described him as "titular president, but famed only for

light verse Light poetry or light verse is poetry that attempts to be humorous. Light poems are usually brief, can be on a frivolous or serious subject, and often feature word play including puns, adventurous rhyme, and heavy alliteration. Typically, light ...

". He had poems printed in the ''

New York Evening Sun ''The Sun'' was a New York newspaper published from 1833 until 1950. It was considered a serious paper, like the city's two more successful broadsheets, ''The New York Times'' and the ''New York Herald Tribune''. The Sun was the first successfu ...

'' in 1928–29, and one called "Oh, Doctor!" in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' in 1930, whose opening lines were: In 1932, he publicized his firm's dictionary with a list of the ten most beautiful words in the English language, having regard for both

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

and meaning. In 1934, he listed the "ten modern Americans who have done most to keep American jargon alive": In 1937, he listed the ten most overworked words: He received an honorary

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

degree in 1932 from

Oglethorpe University Oglethorpe University is a private college in Brookhaven, Georgia. It was chartered in 1835 and named in honor of General James Edward Oglethorpe, founder of the Colony of Georgia. History Oglethorpe University was chartered in 1834 in Mid ...

''The Literary Digest''

In March 1936 Funk became

editor in chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of Funk & Wagnalls' magazine ''The Literary Digest''. The ''Digest'' polled its readers regarding the outcome of the 1936 presidential election, and put

Alf Landon Alfred Mossman Landon (September 9, 1887October 12, 1987) was an American oilman and politician who served as the 26th governor of Kansas from 1933 to 1937. A member of the Republican Party, he was the party's nominee in the 1936 presidential ...

at 56%; in fact he got only 36% of the vote. AIPO predicted not only the correct result, but also the result of the ''Digest'' poll. Funk had desired a wider poll with greater cross-checking, but the costs were prohibitive. He had not questioned the poll's fundamentally flawed methodology, and derided

George Gallup George Horace Gallup (November 18, 1901 – July 26, 1984) was an American pioneer of survey sampling techniques and inventor of the Gallup poll, a successful statistical method of survey sampling for measuring public opinion. Life and caree ...

of AIPO as "our fine statistical friend". Though Funk and the ''Digest'' were good-humored and self-deprecating about the embarrassment, it hastened the ''Digests decline. Funk and Cuddihy sold the ''Digest'' to Albert Shaw in June 1937 for $200,000. Funk in turn got "a very good chuckle" when Gallup failed to predict the

1948 presidential election The following elections occurred in the year 1948. Africa * 1948 Mauritian general election * 1948 South African general election * 1948 Southern Rhodesian general election Asia * 1948 North Korean parliamentary election * 1948 Republic of China ...

result.

Publishing success

In late 1937, Funk started ''Your Life'', a 128-page

digest size Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately , but can also be and , similar to the size of a DVD case. These sizes have evolved from the printin ...

''Popular Guide to Desirable Living''. At 25¢ an issue, it contained articles such as "Be Glad Your Wife's Neurotic" and "Why Commit Suicide?". Circulation ran to more than 100,000, with spin-off titles ''Your Personality'' and ''Your Health''. The success of the magazine allowed him to start his own book publishing business in 1940, Wilfred Funk, Inc. Funk wrote numerous books on

vocabulary A vocabulary is a set of familiar words within a person's language. A vocabulary, usually developed with age, serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge. Acquiring an extensive vocabulary is one of the la ...

and

etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...

aimed at a general audience. He favored

descriptive linguistics In the study of language, description or descriptive linguistics is the work of objectively analyzing and describing how language is actually used (or how it was used in the past) by a speech community. François & Ponsonnet (2013). All acad ...

over

linguistic prescription Linguistic prescription, or prescriptive grammar, is the establishment of rules defining preferred usage of language. These rules may address such linguistic aspects as spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, syntax, and semantics. Sometimes infor ...

, stating "Let's throw the old textbooks out the window, along with the words correct and incorrect, because there's really no such thing as grammar, but only an ever-changing language pattern formed by everyday usage". In 1942, he co-wrote ''30 Days to a more Powerful Vocabulary'' with Norman Lewis; total sales to 1968 were claimed at 4.7m. In 1945, he created the ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

'' feature "It Pays to Increase Your Word Power". His son Peter continued this from 1962 to 1998.

Works

Published works: *''Manhattans, Bronxes, and Queens'' (1931) *''Light Lines and Dears'' (1932) *''So You Think It's New'' (1937) *''It Might Be Verse'' (1938) *''When the Merry-go-round Breaks Down!'' (1938) *''The Inn'' (1940) *''If You Drink'' (1940) *''Love, Life, and Laughter'' (1942) *''30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary'' (1942) *''The Way to Vocabulary Power and Culture'' (1946) *''Word Origins and Their Romantic Stories'' (1950) *''Your Life : Today's Guide to Desirable Living'' Wilfred Funk et al. (1951) *''25 Magic Steps to Word Power'' (1958) *''Six Weeks to Words of Power'' (1959) *''Selected Verse of Wilfred Funk'' (1962)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Funk, Wilfred John 1883 births 1965 deaths American lexicographers American male poets American magazine editors American self-help writers American columnists Princeton University alumni Reader's Digest People from Montclair, New Jersey 20th-century American poets 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers 20th-century lexicographers