Curtis Bok

William Curtis Bok (September 7, 1897 – May 22, 1962) was a Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice, philanthropist and writer. Heir to an enormous publishing fortune, he was also a devout Quaker and an avid sailor. Early life Curtis Bok was born in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. His father was Edward Bok, a Dutch immigrant to the United States and editor-in-chief of The Ladies Home Journal. His mother was Mary Louise Curtis, the only child and heir of Cyrus H. K. Curtis, founder of the Curtis Publishing Company. His father won the 1920 Pulitzer Prize for biography; his mother founded the Curtis Institute of Music. Bok was a sickly child, with a weak heart. His father wrote of taking him to the White House to meet his hero, President Theodore Roosevelt.