Bok, << bok, >> Edward William (1863-1930), was an American journalist. As editor of the Ladies’ Home Journal, he was called “a lay preacher to the largest congregation in the United States.”
Bok was born in Den Helder, The Netherlands. His parents moved to the United States when he was 6. His father died soon after that. By the time Bok was 10, he had a part-time job. He worked as a stenographer for New York publishing firms, and at 21 was editor of The Brooklyn Magazine. In 1886, he founded the Bok Syndicate Press, a city newspaper service.
Bok became editor of the Ladies’ Home Journal in 1889. In 1891, he was elected vice-president of the Curtis Publishing Company, which published the magazine. For 30 years, Bok and the Journal worked for such causes as the better-babies movement, teaching social hygiene to children, beautifying American cities, and improving home architecture. The Journal’s campaign against the evils of patent medicines led to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug acts by Congress.
Books by Bok include The Americanization of Edward Bok, his autobiography, which won the Pulitzer prize in 1921; Twice Thirty; Why I Believe in Poverty; A Man from Maine; and Perhaps I Am.
Bok gave an annual prize of $10,000 to the citizen who contributed most to the advancement of Philadelphia. He offered an American Peace award of $100,000 for the best plan for world peace.
