Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr.


Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. was an American journalist and author. He co-authored, with his sister Ernestine, the autobiographical bestsellers Cheaper by the Dozen and Belles on Their Toes. Under his own name, he wrote multiple additional books, such as Time Out for Happiness and Ancestors of the Dozen, and a long-running newspaper column.

Early life and education

Gilbreth was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, the fifth child of the 12 children born to efficiency experts Frank Bunker Gilbreth and Lillian Moller Gilbreth, and grew up in the family home in Montclair, New Jersey, where he attended Montclair High School. Gilbreth graduated from the University of Michigan, where he served as editor of the college newspaper, The Michigan Daily.

Career

During World War II, he served as a naval officer in the South Pacific, participated in three invasions in the Admiralty Islands and the Philippines, and was decorated with two air medals and a bronze star.
In 1947, he relocated to Charleston, South Carolina, where he returned to The Post and Courier, as an editorial writer and columnist; under the nom de plume of Ashley Cooper, he wrote a long-running column, Doing the Charleston, which ran until 1993. He retired from The Post and Courier in 2001, as assistant publisher and vice president.
He and his older sister, Ernestine, wrote the bestselling books Cheaper by the Dozen and its sequel Belles on Their Toes, which were largely autobiographical. On his own, he also wrote about fatherhood in the post-World War II "baby boom", and about family members.

Personal life

Gilbreth was married twice, to Elizabeth Cauthen, with whom he had a daughter, and then to Mary Pringle Manigault, with whom he had two children.

Death

Gilbreth died in 2001, aged 89, in Charleston, South Carolina, where he had lived for the preceding half century. At the time, he also maintained the family home in Nantucket, Massachusetts, which his father had bought in 1921.

Publications

Gilbreth's published books include: