W. M. Kiplinger

photo
W. M. Kiplinger (photo from Library of Congress)

Born: January 8, 1891
Died: August 6, 1967

Ohio connection: Birth

Bellefontaine

Born Willard Monroe Kiplinger in Bellefontaine, Ohio, to Clarence and Cora (Miller) Kiplinger, Kiplinger developed an early interest in journalism. Serving as the editor of his high school newspaper, he later became one of the first two students to enroll in the School of Journalism at Ohio State University, graduating in 1912. Kiplinger joined the Ohio State Journal as a cub reporter and covered the Columbus flood of 1913, driving across town in a horse and buggy to gather information on flood victims.

Kiplinger later moved to Washington, D.C., where he became an Associated Press correspondent, and had assignments such as walking in the rain with Woodrow Wilson on the night Wilson was nominated for the presidency.

In 1914, Kiplinger married Irene Austin, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1926. They would have three children, although one died as an infant. Kiplinger would remarry, and he and his wife Lillian LaVerne (Colwell) were the parents a daughter. 

Kiplinger left the Associated Press in 1919 to become a correspondent for the National Bank of Commerce of New York. In 1923, he sent all of his clients a supplemental summary of Washington news. Thus began the Kiplinger Washington Letter, which is still in publication today. In 1947, he inaugurated Changing Times magazine, which is now Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, with a circulation of over one million. Kiplinger also authored of a number of books, including Washington Is Like ThatBoom and Inflation Ahead, and Your Guide to a Higher Income

W. M. Kiplinger died in Bethesda, Maryland, August 6, 1967.

Additional Resources

Wikipedia Article including External Links

Family history information at Find A Grave