George Wilbur Peck

Humorist / State Governor

George Wilbur Peck created Peck's Bad Boy, a popular character of newspaper stories, books and early movies. A printer and newspaperman by trade, Peck hit his stride when he began his own humorous paper, the Sun, in 1874. His whimsical observations (somewhat in the style of his contemporary Mark Twain) attracted a wide following, and he built the Sun into a financial success while also becoming active in Wisconsin politics: he was elected mayor of Milwaukee in 1890 and then served as governor of Wisconsin from 1891-95. Despite his political successes, Peck remains best known for his ongoing series of "Peck's Bad Boy" yarns, featuring a naughty little tyke who plays pranks on others for the simple love of mischief. Collections of his stories include Peck's Fun (1879) and Peck's Bad Boy and His Pa (1883).

Other entertainers-turned-governors: Jesse Ventura and Ronald Reagan... Other whimsical authors: Edward Lear, Douglas Adams and Lewis Carroll.