Overlook Author Profile: Walter R. Brooks

Born January 9, 1886 in upstate New York, Walter R. Brooks, author of the beloved Freddy the Pig series of children’s books, studied homeopathic medicine in New York City before dropping out and moving to Rochester, where he worked in advertising.

He “retired” in 1911 after supposedly coming into an inheritance, but continued to work, first as a publicist, then as an editor, until finally quitting in 1940, 29 years later, to write full time.

Beyond Freddy, Brooks’s other enduring cultural contribution was the short story “Ed Takes the Pledge,” the inspiration for the hit series “Mr. Ed.”

From 1936 to his death on August 17, 1958, Brooks wrote a book a year, and there are 26 books in the Freddy series, all of which are available from Overlook.