John G. (John Gilbert) Thompson

For many readers, John G. Thompson is remembered through books such as Lest We Forget and Winning a Cause, written with Inez Bigwood. His work also included school readers and educational texts, showing how closely his writing grew out of his life in education.

Thompson spent more than three decades in that field and became the first principal of the State Normal School in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, serving from 1895 to 1920. Before that, he taught in Massachusetts public schools and held leadership posts in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Later accounts describe him as an educational administrator who also turned to business and economic writing. That mix of teacher, school leader, and author helps explain the steady, instructive voice of his books, which were shaped by a lifelong interest in how people learn.