Espy, Willard R.

Author, journalist, wordsmith, public relations expert, and businessman; b. in Olympia, Wash., 1910; son of Harry Albert and Helen R. Espy; worked in California and New York, spending time with family in Oysterville, Wash.; worked for Reader's Digest but maintained business interests in Oysterville; in 1957 began public relations agency and wrote anagram verses for Punch magazine; author of 15 books; married 1: Ann Alden Hathaway (1933, separated same year); 2.: Hilda Stanley Cole (1940, divorced 1962); and 3.: Louise Manheim House; d. 1999.

From the description of Willard Richardson Espy papers, 1914-1992. (Washington State Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 403873525