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1151 Tower Boulevard
Lake Wales, FL 33853 Telephone: (941) 676-1408 Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Sunday through Saturday Admission: adults, $6; seniors, $5; children, $2; under 5, free Edward William Bok, editor of Ladies' Home Journal for 30 years, created this 157-acre garden as his tribute to the American people. An immigrant from The Netherlands, Bok was grateful for the way Americans accepted him.
Several special events are held throughout the year. Fascinated by celebrities, Bok was one of the United States' most successful editors. He served as editor of Ladies' Home Journal for 30 years, influencing women's attitudes toward themselves, their families, and their communities. His was the first magazine in the United States to reach a circulation of one million subscribers. Noted for encouraging his readers to accept civic responsibility, Bok used his magazine to promote traditional American values and discourage women's participation in politics. Edward William Bok was born on October 9, 1863, in Helder, The Netherlands. Bok moved with his family to New York City when he was seven years old. His life in America was difficult. Children called him names and made fun of his broken English. Bok's family depended on his ability to scavenge wood and coal to heat their home and on the meager income he provided by collecting tin cans, cleaning shop windows, and delivering newspapers. Bok began his writing career while still in grammar school. He convinced the editor of the Brooklyn Eagle that people would subscribe to the newspaper if they could read about themselves. With the help of his classmates, Bok reported regularly on the social activities of the people who lived in his community. When he was 12 years old, Bok dropped out of public school and accepted a position as office boy for the Western Union Telegraph Company. In his spare time, Bok read the encyclopedia, searching for information about successful people. He started corresponding with people such as James A. Garfield, Ulysses S. Grant, and William Wadsworth Longfellow. When he was 18, Bok set out to personally meet Oliver Wendell Holmes, Louisa May Alcott, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. This obsession with celebrities led to Bok's career as an editor. When Joseph P. Knapp of American Lithograph Company offered to pay Bok for writing short biographies of famous Americans, Bok realized he could earn more money if he paid some of his friends to write the biographies while he edited their work. Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article Bok Tower Gardens in Literary Tour is owned by Ella Robinson. Permission to republish Bok Tower Gardens in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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