Wilferd Arlan Peterson (1900–1995) was an American author who wrote for This Week magazine (a national Sunday supplement in newspapers) for many years. For twenty-five years, he wrote a monthly column for Science of Mind magazine. He published nine books starting in 1949 with The Art of Getting Along: Inspiration for Triumphant Daily Living. Biography Wilferd Peterson was born in Whitehall, Michigan, and lived most of his life in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was married to Ruth Irene Rector Peterson (1921–1979). He credits his wife Ruth as being the inspiration for his work (saying that while he "wrote about the art of living, she lived it"), and they collaborated often on producing these inspirational books. Career In Grand Rapids he was the vice president and creative director of an advertising firm. A prolific writer for various industry publications, his inspirational essays began to appear on the "Words To Live By" page of This Week magazine in 1960 (which was distributed in 42 metropolitan Sunday newspapers with over 13 million readers). Letters of praise from admiring readers led to the publication of The Art of Living, the first of a series of books that would sell millions of copies. Essays in this book were also recorded by William J. Nichols, editor of This Week magazine, to produce an album called "The Golden Album of Inspiration". Peterson was regarded as "one of the best loved American writers of the 20th century, renowned for his inspirational wisdom and aphoristic wit" by the Independent Publishers Group. He was a frequent contributor to This Week magazine, Science of Mind magazine and Reader's Digest. His influences include Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Abraham Lincoln, among many others. His contemporaries include Norman Vincent Peale and Dale Carnegie, and current writers and philosophers such as Jack Canfield and Brian Tracy have referred to Peterson's works. His inspirational essays were made into greeting cards, calendars and gift books, which appeared in Hallmark stores from 1970 through 1980. His essays have appeared in Dear Abby's column <http://www.uexpress.com/dearabby/?uc_full_date=20000430>, used within Blue Mountain Arts <http://www.sps.com> gift books and Chicken Soup for the Traveler's Soul <https://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Soup-Travelers-Soul-Inspiration/dp/1558749705>, and specific quotes from his works appear in Quotable Cards. He is best known for his poem The Art of Marriage (often used as a reading at wedding ceremonies) about marriage, commitment and love which was published in book form by Souvenir Press in April