William Strunk Jr.

William Strunk Jr. (1869-1946) was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, the eldest of four siblings. He received his B.A. from the University of Cincinnati and his Ph.D. from Cornell University. Later, he was an English teacher at the latter institution, where he published in a personal capacity The Art of Knowing How to Write for the use of his students. Strunk wanted the guide to "lighten the task of the teacher and the student by focusing attention on the essentials."
Later, successive updated versions were published, which have sold more than ten million copies to date, making his work a highly influential guide to the use of the language during much of the twentieth century.