Vance Packard

   

     Vance Packard was born in Granville Summit, Pennsylvania in May of 1914, to parents Philip J. Packard and Mabel Case Packard. Packard grew up in State College, Pennsylvania. In 1932, he majored in English attending Penn State University.  He earned his master's degree in 1936 at Columbia University. In 1938 he married Virginia Matthews.

    Packard went on to become an American author of pop sociology: the study/classification of human societies; and so was a forerunner in the bridging of the gaps between the highly educated classes and those classes less educated.  

    Vance continued on, writing many books including his big seller The Hidden Persuaders, 1957, which was about the media's manipulation over society in the 1950’s.  Vance's work appealed to the mass market. The Hidden Persuaders launched his career as a full time social critic, lecturer, and book author. 

    Included among his achievements were: working for the Center Daily Times Newspaper, staff member of the Boston Daily Record, a writer for the Associated Press, a writer for the American Magazine, and also for Collier's.

Some selected works of Mr. Packard's include:

-1946, How to Pick a Mate, A Guide

-1950, Animal IQ

-1957, The Hidden Persuaders

-1964, The Naked Society

-1968, The Sexual Wilderness

-1977, The People Shapers

    Mr. Packard passed on December 12th, 1996 in his summer home on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts.
 

 

 

References

http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/LitMap/bios/Packard__Vance_Oakley.html, (April, 2006)

Written By: Holly Schwichtenberg, (March, 2006)