Walter B. Pitkin

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Walter Boughton Pitkin (born February 6, 1878 in Ypsilanti , Michigan , † January 25, 1953 in Palo Alto , California ) was an American psychologist , journalist and author , who was best known for his book Life Begins at Forty .

Life

Pitkin studied after school at the University of Michigan , where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1900 . After studying at the Hartford Theological Seminary between 1900 and 1905 , he was a lecturer in psychology at Columbia University from 1905 to 1909 . He was also a member of the editorial board of the New York Tribune , one of the leading and most influential newspapers in the United States , between 1907 and 1908 , and then of the New York Evening Post from 1909 to 1910 .

In 1912 he accepted a professorship for journalism at Columbia University and taught there for more than thirty years until his retirement in 1943. In addition to this teaching activity, he was also editor of Parents Magazine from 1927 to 1930 , a monthly magazine founded in 1926 for young parents and from 1927 to 1928 managing editor for America of the Encyclopædia Britannica . Pitkin was also the founder of the Institute of Life Planning (1932) and The American Majority in 1939, and was editor-in-chief of the Farm Journal from 1935 to 1938 , before handing this position over to Wheeler McMillen .

Publications

In addition to his journalistic activities and his teaching activities, he was also the author of numerous popular science books , which dealt in particular with aging and the living situation from the age of forty, some of which were published early in German translation . His most famous books include:

  • The Art of Rapid Reading (1929)
  • Life Begins at Forty (1932, dt. Titles Life begins at forty , 1936)
  • Capitalism Carries On (1935)
  • Take it Easy: The Art of Relaxation (1935, German title Make life easy for you , 1936)
  • Careers for Youth (1936)
  • Careers After Forty (1937)
  • More power to you (1938, German title Mehr Kraft für dich , 1938)
  • Making Good Before Forty (1939)
  • Seeing Our Country (1939)
  • The Best Years (1946, German title The best years: You only become a person in old age , 1953)
  • Road to a Richer Life (1949)

In addition, his memoirs appeared in 1944 under the title On My Own .

Web links and sources

personal data
SURNAME Pitkin, Walter B.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pitkin, Walter Boughton (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American psychologist, journalist and author
DATE OF BIRTH February 6, 1878
PLACE OF BIRTH Ypsilanti , Michigan
DATE OF DEATH January 25, 1953
Place of death Palo Alto , California