George Horace Lorimer

George Horace Lorimer (October 6, 1867 – October 22, 1937) was an American journalist, editor, author and publisher who worked as the editor of The Saturday Evening Post from 1899 to 1936. During his time as editor, circulation rose from several thousand to more than one million. He published the works of some of the greatest American writers and hired the then unknown illustrator Norman Rockwell to create cover artwork. He became president of the Curtis Publishing Company in 1932 and served until 1936.

Early life and education Lorimer was born on October 6, 1867 in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of Rev. George C. Lorimer and Belle (née Burford) Lorimer. He attended Moseley High School in Chicago and Yale University.

He was convinced by one of his father's parishioners, Philip D. Armour, to leave Yale and work in the meatpacking business in Chicago from 1887 to 1895. In 1892, he married Alma Ennis.

He moved to Boston and worked as a reporter before returning to school at Colby College to study writing.

Career He worked as a journalist at the Boston Post and the Boston Herald. He was hired by Cyrus H. K. Curtis in 1897 as literary editor of The Saturday Evening Post. and published the works of some of the greatest American writers including Willa Cather, Stephen Crane, Theodore Dreiser, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ring Lardner, Sinclair Lewis, Jack London and Frank Norris. He introduced European writers such as Joseph Conrad and John Galsworthy to American audiences. President Herbert Hoover was a pallbearer at his funeral.

Lorimer had a ten-acre estate in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, named Belgrame after his two children, Belle and Graeme. In 1945, the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus purchased the property to use as the campus of Ancillae Assumpta Academy.

Lorimer's Kings Oak farm in Abington Township, Pennsylvania, was bequeathed to the citizens of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and forms part of the Lorimer Park.

Published works Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son: Being the Letters written by John Graham, Head of the House of Graham & Company, Pork-Packers in Chicago, familiarly known on 'Change as "Old Gorgon Graham," to his Son, Pierrepont, facetiously known to his intimates as "Piggy.", Small, Maynard & Company, Boston, 1904 Old Gorgon Graham: More Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son, Doubleday, Page & Company, New York, 1904 The False Gods, D. Appleton & Company, New York 1906 Jack Spurlock, Prodigal, John Murray, London, 1908