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THIS BOOK was commissioned at the Chicago convention in 1983 by NALU executive vice president Jack E. Bobo, CLU, FLMi, with the unanimous approval of the Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees. Officers of the National Association at that time were: Rice E. Brown, CLU, president; Jack Peckinpaugh, CLU, immediate past president; Robert B. Hughes, CLU, president-elect; Michael C. Keenan, CLU, secretary; and L. Kent Babcock, Jr., treasurer. Board members were: Arthur Abramson, CLU; Milton O. Bedingfield; Don A. Eichelberger, CLU; Mary E. Fort, CLU; Gene R. Imke, CLU; Morland G. McManigal, CLU, CPCU; John A. Packal, CLU; Robert A. Pierce, CLU; Alan Press, CLU; Paul M. Smith, Sr., CLU; Robert J. Wernecke, CLU; and David F. Woods, CLU, ChFC.

Since that time these and successive officers have given the project total support and continued interest. The implied confidence in assigning the task, the generous support and unremitting patience of Jack E. Bobo during the ensuing years provided the impetus to make Voices from the Field a reality. Whatever value the book may have for scholars, for the insurance community and for the general public is due largely to his foresight and interest. It should also be pointed out that Bobo exercised no editorial influence over the contents or manner of presentation, refusing even to examine the manuscript while the work was in progress.

From the beginning the project had the enthusiastic interest of those long associated with the NALU. The insight and recollections of former NALU presidents Charles J. Zimmerman, CLU, Holgar Johnson, David Fluegelman, CLU, and Philip A. Hoche, CLU, have allowed for a much livelier and detailed treatment of a number of incidents and personalities than would have been possible otherwise. Interviews with the late John D Marsh, CLU, and C. Carney Smith, CLU, as well as an extensive interview with Benjamin N. Woodson, CLU, filled many gaps encountered during the research process. Alex W. Lingard, long the managing director of the life underwriters Association of Canada, helped explain much about the NALU’s Canadian Connections. Always helpful and considerate, John M. Phillips, director of audio/visual productions at NALU headquarters, arranged for many of the interviews to be quality-recorded for posterity.

I am especially grateful to Donald F. Barnes, Sam P. Gaglio, Marvin F. Kobel, H. James Douds and the members of NALU’s legal staff for patiently reading the manuscript and offering many valuable suggestions and saving me form a number of awkward gaffes. Always encouraging, Barnes and Gaglio have been particularly solicitous to make Voices from the Field and accurate and interesting record of the NALU’s century of progress. For whatever errors, misapprehensions and omissions there are that may diminish the book’s usefulness I alone am to blame.

No expressions of gratitude could sufficiently repay the solicitude, support, patience and work so generously given by Edward P. Keenan who took all responsibility of the publication of the book. I am equally behold to Ian MacKenzie, who both prodded and encouraged me; to Ruth Stewart who meticulously proofread the chapters again and again; to Melissa Morrison Sprott who spent countless hours with the details of production, and to Dee Cohen who designed the pages and general format and devoted immense care to its visual presentation. All members of the staff of Life Association News deserve thanks for their forbearance and continued encouragement. Steve Nieman of Cincinnati who undertook to edit the book added immeasurably to its readability.

The time devoted to this history extended far beyond my anticipation or beyond anyone’s liking. Like many who have undertaken a project of this kind, I owe my wife and sons a huge debt for their support and patience though the years. I am also indebted to the life underwriters of America for providing a worthy and interesting subject for study. I hope Voices from the Field justly reflects their contributions to American life and gives them the attention they so well deserve.

George A. Norris
Washington, D.C.
September 1989

Foreword by Alan Press, 1988-1989 NALU President

Preface by Jack E. Bobo, 1989 NALU Executive Vice President

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1

Laying the Foundation—A Meeting at the Parker House

Leading Figures—Ransom, Carpenter, Blodgett and Plummer

Conditions Leading to the Foundation of the NALU

Rise of Modern Life Insurance and the General Agency System

Issues and Accomplishments of the First 15 Years

Chapter 2