McWhirter, Norris Dewar

McWhirter, Norris Dewar
▪ 2005

      British publisher (b. Aug. 12, 1925, London, Eng.—d. April 19, 2004, Kington Langley, Wiltshire, Eng.), cofounded, along with his twin brother, Ross, The Guinness Book of Records (later Guinness World Records). The statistical tome, which was first published in 1955, surveyed achievements both heroic and absurd and remained one of the world's best-selling books. Norris McWhirter parlayed notable athletic success as a youth into a career as a sportswriter before cofounding, also with his brother, a business selling sporting facts to newspapers. In 1954 the pair persuaded the Guinness Brewery to finance a book of facts to settle bar bets, and in 1972 they began appearing on the television show Record Breakers. The brothers were also conservative political activists, and Ross was murdered in 1975 by Irish Republican Army terrorists. Norris continued to edit the Book of Records and several related volumes until 1986 and served as an advisory editor until 1996. He was made CBE in 1980.

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Universalium. 2010.

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