News Organizations and Titles: Founder and editor in chief, The Kiplinger Washington Letter, 1923-61; president and publisher, Kiplinger, 1923-59; founder, 1947, Kiplinger Magazine, which became Changing Times, now Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine; founder, The Kiplinger Florida Letter, 1956; founder, Kiplinger Farm Board Letter (now Kiplinger Agricultural Letter), 1929; founder, the Kiplinger Tax Letter, 1925; free-lance writer for The New York Times and Nation's Business among others, 1923-28; reporter and writer of a query service, The National Bank of Commerce of New York, 1920-23; reporter, Washington bureau, Associated Press, 1916-20; reporter, Columbus bureau, Associated Press, 1914-16; reporter, The Ohio State Journal, 1912-14.
Legacy: A pioneer in newsletter journalism for mass consumption, Mr. Kiplinger founded a publishing empire and developed a crisp, staccato-style of journalism printed in typewriter type on letter-size paper that often has been emulated. His company is widely regarded as one of the best places to work in Washington.
Journalistic Progeny: Son Austin H. Kiplinger, now editor emeritus of the Kiplinger Washington Letter; grandson Knight A. Kiplinger; and countless newsletter publishers.
Personal: Born Jan. 8, 1891, in Bellefontaine, Ohio; died Aug. 6, 1967, in Bethesda, Md.
Family: Mr. Kiplinger was married three times--to Irene Austin in 1914, Leslie Jackson in 1926, and Laverne Colwel in 1936. In addition to son Austin, he had two daughters, Jane Ann and Bonnie Susan.
Books:His five books include "Inflation Ahead! What To Do About It," 1935, and "Washington Is Like That," 1942, written with son Austin.
Education: He was one of the first two students to enroll in Ohio State University's School of Journalism, from which he graduated in 1912.
Home run stories or accomplishments: For his newsletter, Mr. Kiplinger developed the "sweep-line" format--one-line sentences with the main idea at the beginning, with key words underlined or capitalized.
What he has said about himself: In a 1949 article in The New York Times: "Fifty businessmen write me every day and I write them. They ask me questions, and I ask them questions, and we swap news and views about how things are with them in their trades and localities. It is my business--to correspond with business men."
"I believe in plain, simple language, without a lot of useless verbiage. Our attitude will be completely non-partisan. We know how to separate hot air from sincerity, fiction from fact. We will not hesitate to deflate and debunk pure political hokum, regardless of party lines. We will report what businessmen need to know to look ahead, plan ahead and make the decisions that help them stay ahead."
What others have said about him: Poet Carl Sandburg wrote of the founder's style: "Writes crisp. Smooth. Imagine he's a good talker."
Everett Dennis, director of the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center: "In a complicated world, it's always been a rather reliable publication. It's absolutely generic information: It boils everything down and there are no sources. It's a connector, a great sense maker. And there's not enough of that around. It has news value without having a news edge."