Vance Packard

Vance Packard (May 22, 1914 - December 12, 1996) was an American journalist, social critic, and author. His million-selling book The Hidden Persuaders, about media manipulation of the populace in the 1950s was a forerunner of pop sociology: science-based thinking without the weight of detail or eloquence, geared for sale to the mass market.

Life events

• 1914 Born in Granville Summit, Pennsylvania to parents Philip J. Packard and Mabel Case Packard
• 1920-32 Attends local public schools in State College, Pennsylvania where his father managed a farm owned by Pennsylvania State University (Penn State)
• 1932 Enters Penn State majoring in English
• 1936 Graduates, works briefly for the local Center Daily Times newspaper
• 1936-7 Earns master's degree at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
• 1937 Boston Daily Record staff reporter
• 1938 Marries Virginia Matthews
• 1940? Reporter for Associated Press
• 1942 Joins the staff of American magazine as a section editor, later becoming a staff writer.
• 1956 American magazine closes (July)
• 1956 Writer for Collier's
• 1956 Collier's closes (December)
• 1957 The Hidden Persuaders receives national attention and launches Packard’s career as a social critic and full-time lecturer and book author
• 1961 Named a Distinguished Alumnus of Penn State
• 1996 Dies at his summer home on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts