George Horace Lorimer

George Horace Lorimer (October 6, 1867 – October 22, 1937[1]) was an American journalist, author and publisher. He is best known as the editor of The Saturday Evening Post, which he led from 1899 to 1936. During his editorial reign, the Post rose from a circulation of several thousand to more than one million. He is also credited with promoting or discovering a large number of American writers, such as Jack London, whose stories were published in the Post.[2] In addition, Lorimer served as vice president, president, and chairman of the Curtis Publishing Company, which published several magazines and numerous books.

For other people named George Lorimer, see George Lorimer (disambiguation).
George Horace Lorimer
Lorimer in 1922
Born
Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Died
Wyncote, Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania
NationalityAmerican
OccupationJournalist, Author, Editor
Known forThe Saturday Evening Post
Curtis Publishing Company

Life
Lorimer's tomb in Laurel Hill Cemetery overlooks the Schuylkill River and Kelly Drive.

Lorimer was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of the Rev. George C. Lorimer and Belle (née Burford) Lorimer. He attended Moseley High School in Chicago, Colby College, and Yale University.[3]

After working as a journalist, in 1899 he became editor-in-chief of The Saturday Evening Post, published in Philadelphia.[4] He remained in charge until the last day of 1936, about a year before his death from throat cancer.[1] He served also as vice president, president, and chairman of Curtis Publishing Company, which publishes the Post.

He died on October 22, 1937 in Wyncote, Pennsylvania and was interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.[5]

Books

In the early 1900s, Lorimer also published several books, including

  • Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son (1903)/ 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."
  • Old Gorgon Graham - More Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son,

and

  • The False Gods

The Letters from a Self-Made Merchant was a quite well known book in the early 20th century, and was the basis for the 1922 film A Self-made Man starring William Russell.[6] In her novel, Whose Body? (1923), Dorothy Sayers notes that a copy of the book, in a Morocco binding, is kept at the bedside of a self-made British financier.

Estate

Lorimer had a large estate in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia. Most of it is now used as the campus of Ancillae Assumpta Academy.

Most of Lorimer Park, a 230-acre (0.93 km2) public park located in Abington Township, Pennsylvania, was a bequest from the Lorimer family to the citizens of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

References
  1. Friedrich, Otto. Decline and Fall. Harper and Row, 1970, p. 10
  2. Tebbel, John. George Horace Lorimer and the Saturday Evening Post. Doubleday, 1948.
  3. Catherine Hanley, George Horace Lorimer Archived 2007-01-18 at the Wayback Machine. 2006.
  4. SaturdayEveningPost.com Archived 2009-02-22 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "George Horace Lorimer". www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  6. "A Self-made Man (1922)". IMDb. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
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