Wallace, (William Roy) De Witt (1889-1981)

US publisher. Working as a book salesman, he developed his idea for a magazine that printed digests of other publications' articles. The first issue of the pocket-sized magazine, Reader's Digest, appeared in February 1922. Sold only through the mail, it soon caught on, eventually becoming the world's largest circulation magazine, printed in 17 languages for 31 million readers in 168 countries. The firm also branched out into condensed books, original books, and recordings, all sold only through the mail. Wallace was born in St Paul, Minnesota; He was son of the dean (later president) of Macalaster College, which he attended, and later married his roommate's sister, Lila Acheson Wallace.