Loren Pope

Loren Pope (July 13, 1910 – September 23, 2008) was an American writer and independent college placement counselor.

In 1965, Pope, a former newspaperman and education editor of "The New York Times", founded the College Placement Bureau, one of the first independent college placement counseling services in the United States. He was a graduate of DePauw University.

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.

His final and best-selling work, "Colleges That Change Lives" (Penguin, 1996), profiled his top 40 choices—schools that he claimed would "do as much as, and perhaps even more than, any name-brand schools to fully educate students and to give them rich, full lives". His books prove extremely helpful in choosing different colleges that are right for the student.Fact|date=September 2008 He focused mainly on private liberal arts colleges, usually with about 1500 students.

Pope was also known for commissioning the Pope-Leighey House in 1939, designed and constructed originally in Falls Church, Virginia, by Frank Lloyd Wright. Pope, who was working as a $50-a-week copy writer at a Washington newspaper, convinced Wright to build the small house (less than 1,200 square feet) by writing him a famously flattering letter. In the letter Pope wrote: "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. 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."fact|date=October 2008

External links

* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/26/AR2008092603547.html Washington Post obituary]