Wilfred J. Funk

Wilfred John Funk (March 20, 1883 – June 1, 1965) was an American writer, poet, lexicographer and publisher. He was president of Funk & Wagnalls 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. He graduated from Princeton 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, a suburb of Manhattan. Several tax-efficient trusts Funk created for his wife were the subject of dispute with the Tax Office, ending in a Court of Appeals decision in 1950.

His son Wilfred J. Funk Jr was killed in August 1943 in Operation Cottage, the assault on Kiska, Alaska in an engagement with Japanese forces in World War II.

Wilfred Funk died of arteriosclerosis 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". He had poems printed in the New York Evening Sun in 1928–29, and one called "Oh, Doctor!" in The New Yorker 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 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 degree in 1932 from Oglethorpe University.

The Literary Digest

In March 1936 Funk became editor in chief of Funk & Wagnalls' magazine The Literary Digest. The Digest polled its readers regarding the outcome of the 1936 presidential election, and put Alf Landon 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 of AIPO as "our fine statistical friend". Though Funk and the Digest were good-humored and self-deprecating about the embarrassment, Funk in turn got "a very good chuckle" when Gallup failed to predict the 1948 presidential election result.

Publishing success In late 1937, Funk started Your Life, a 128-page digest size 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. Funk & Wagnalls acquired Wilfred Funk, Inc. in 1953.

Funk wrote numerous books on vocabulary and etymology aimed at a general audience. In 1945, he created the Reader's Digest 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) Roosevelt's Foreign Policy (1931–1941): Franklin D. Roosevelt's Unedited Speeches and Messages (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)