Wilfred Funk
| Wilfred J. Funk | |
|---|---|
| Born | Wilfred John Funk March 20, 1883 |
| Died | June 1, 1965 (aged 82) Montclair, New Jersey |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | English |
Wilfred John Funk (March 20, 1883 – June 1, 1965) was an American author, poet, lexicographer, and publisher. He was president of Funk & Wagnalls from 1925 to 1940, and founder of publishing company Wilfred Funk, Inc.
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. His beach house "Cobble Court" in Southampton was a society venue in the Hamptons summer season. 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 in World War II.
Wilfred Funk died of arteriosclerosis in Montclair.
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 1928–9, 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.
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