Loren Pope
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Loren Pope | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 13, 1910 |
| Died | September 23, 2008 (aged 98) |
| Education | DePauw University |
| Occupations | Author, Editor |
| Employer | The New York Times |
| Notable work | Colleges That Change Lives |
Loren Brooks Pope (July 13, 1910 – September 23, 2008) was an American writer and educational consultant,[1] best known for his book, Colleges That Change Lives.[2] He was also the education editor of The New York Times.
Born in Minneapolis, Pope grew up in northern Virginia. He was a Democrat, in a family of stalwart Republicans.[2] He was an alumnus of DePauw University.[2] Pope married and divorced Charlotte Swart Pope and Ida Wallace Pope. Pope was married 24 years to Viola Barrett Greenland Pope, who lived to the age of 96.[3]
In 1965, Pope, founded the College Placement Bureau, one of the first independent college placement counseling services in the United States.[2]
His first book, The Right College: How to Get In, Stay In, Get Back In (Macmillan, 1970), was followed by a nationally syndicated article series, "Twenty Myths That Can Jinx Your College Choice," published in The Washington Post Magazine and Reader's Digest. A second book, Looking Beyond the Ivy League: Finding the College That’s Right for You (Penguin, 1995), was written and published several years later. Pope was also known for commissioning the Pope-Leighey House in 1939, designed and constructed originally in Falls Church, Virginia, by Frank Lloyd Wright.[3] Pope, who was working as a $50-a-week copy editor at the Washington Evening Star (his employer financed the construction), convinced Wright to build the small house by writing him a famously flattering letter. Pope opened, "There are certain things a man wants during life, and, of life. Material things and things of the spirit. The writer has one fervent wish that includes both. It is for a house created by you." He closed with the plea, "Will you create a house for us? Will you?" The architect's reply was brief: "Dear Loren Pope: Of course I am ready to give you a house."[4]
