25 August 2009

Here's an author whose books I bet you own: Kaplan Inc. founder Stanley Kaplan died Sunday at the ripe old age of 90, having sold his homegrown test-prep company (begun after he failed to get into medical school) to the Washington Post. Even if you still have nightmares about #2 pencils, his story is fascinating; he figures prominently in Jerome Karabel's THE CHOSEN, a great book about American higher education, prejudice and the redefinition of "character" in a meritocracy.

1 comment:

Wade Garrett said...

When I interned for Senator Schumer, he used to tell stories about how his first part-time job in high school was working for Stanley Kaplan, cranking out copies on an old-fashioned turn-handle copying machine. I have no idea whether or not this story is actually true.