Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son

George Horace Lorimer was an American journalist and author. He is best known as the editor of The Saturday Evening Post. His Letters From A Self-Made Merchant To His Son is a timeless collection of Gilded Age aphorisms from a rich man - a prosperous pork-packer in Chicago to his son, Pierrepont, whom he ‘affectionately’ calls ‘Piggy.’ The writing is subtle and brilliant. ‘One of the under-rated masterpieces of early American literature.’ F. R. Brown.

George Horace Lorimer (October 6, 1867 October 22, 1937) was an American journalist and author. He is best known as the editor of The Saturday Evening Post. During his editorial reign, the Post rose from a circulation of several thousand to over a million. He is credited with promoting or discovering a large number of American writers, e.g. Jack London.

Lorimer was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of the Rev. George C. Lorimer and Belle Burford Lorimer. He attended Moseley High School in Chicago, Colby College, and Yale University. In 1899 he became editor-in-chief of The Saturday Evening Post, and remained in charge until the last day of 1936, about a year before his death from throat cancer. He served also as vice president, president, and chairman of Curtis Publishing Company, which publishes the Post.

In the early 1900s Lorimer published several books, including

Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son,

being the Letters written by John Graham, Head of the House of Graham & Company, Pork-Packers in Chicago, familiarly known on 'Change as "Old Gorgon Graham," to his Son, Pierrepont, facetiously known to his intimates as "Piggy."