John "Jack" Christian Kofoed, and his twin brother, William Hansen Kofoed, were both born on December 17, 1894. Their father, Hans Senius Kofoed, was born in 1857 in Denmark, and came to America in 1870. Their mother, Anna M. Hansen, was born in 1855 in Pennsylvania of Danish ancestry. The parents married in 1889 in Philadelphia and had three children. The first child, Frank Kofoed, was born in 1890. The family lived at 2738 Germantown Avenue. The father was a shoemaker. The widowed grandmother, Fredricka Hansen, born in 1822 in Denmark, also lived with the family.
In September of 1910 the Kofoed twins began to attend Germantown High School, where they contributed to the school newsletter and became interested in careers as professional writers.
The February 15, 1913 issue of the pulp magazine Top-Notch published "Down To Victory" by Jack Kofoed.
In June of 1913 they graduated from Germantown High School, after which both brothers began to work for The Philadelphia Daily Public Ledger.
Jack Kofoed was soon publishing stories in Tip-Top Semi-Monthly, Ten-Story Book, Breezy Stories, Saucy Stories, The Thrill Book, and People's Favorite Magazine.
By 1916 Jack Kofoed was listed as "Sports Reporter" in the Philadelphia Business Directory, while his brother William H. Kofoed was listed as an "Editor."
In 1918 during the Great War both brothers were drafted for military service. Jack Kofoed became a war correspondent in France, while William H. Kofoed served in the infantry. After the war, both brothers were honorably discharged and resumed their literary careers in Philadelphia.
During the 1920s Jack Kofoed wrote exciting adventure stories for Black Mask, Action Stories, Argosy All-Story, Short Stories, Red-Blooded Stories, Top-Notch, Western Story, Mystery Magazine, Telling Tales, Tales of Danger and Daring, Lariat Story, Ace-High, and Brief Stories, which was founded by his brother.
In 1928 Jack Kofoed began to write for the pulp magazine Fight Stories, which was published by Fiction House, where his brother, William H. Kofoed, was the founding Editor.
In Chicago on February 14, 1929, Al Capone's gunmen murdered the last surviving members of Dean O'Banion's notorious North Side Gang. Nationwide newspapers published shocking photographs of the gruesome "St. Valentine's Day Massacre." Two weeks later, Al Capone visited Philadelphia to settle a nationwide truce between all crime bosses. Capone was followed by G-Men, who arrested him in Philadelphia for carrying a concealed weapon. After a week in jail, he was released and traveled to his second home in Miami Beach, where the new truce was lavishly celebrated. The famous gangster's party guests included Myer Lansky, Moe L. Annenberg, and twin brothers, Jack and William Kofoed.
In 1930 the mother, Anna M. Hansen Kofoed, died at the age of seventy-three in Philadelphia.
By 1930 Jack Kofoed had become a celebrated newspaper columnist. He married his wife, Marie Kofoed (b.1905), and had two children, John C. Kofoed, Jr. (b.1926), and William C. Kofoed (b.1934).
In 1931 Jack Kofoed co-wrote "Night Clubs" with comedian Jimmy Durante.
In May of 1932 Jack Kofoed stopped writing for Fight Stories when the pulp magazine ceased publication, while Fiction House underwent financial reorganization after the death of the company's co-founder, Jack Kelly.
In 1934 the father, Hans Senius Kofoed, died at the age of seventy-eight in Philadelphia.
In May of 1934 Champion Associates of Philadelphia began to publish the pulp Jack Dempsey's Fight Magazine, which was edited by William H. Kofoed and included stories by Jack Kofoed. According to William H. Kofoed, "There were only three issues of Jack Dempsey's Fight Magazine, May, June and August of 1934. The depression was still making itself felt, but it was the premature timidity of the people financing the magazine rather than the depression that cause the magazine to fold. They quit before all the numbers were in. Later it was determined that the magazine had moved out of the red and into the black by the third issue."
During the 1930s Jack Kofoed wrote for Fight Stories, Sport Story, All-American Sports, Champion Sports, Ace Sports, Thrilling Football, Popular Sports, Popular Detective, G-Men, and Thrilling Adventures.
During the 1940s Jack Kofoed wrote for Exciting Football, Exciting Sports, Thrilling Sports, Fifteen Sports Stories, Fight Stories, Sports Novels, New Sports, Athlete, Dime Sports, Popular Sports, Popular Detective, Detective Novels, and Black Book Detective.
On April 27, 1942 during WWII Jack Kofoed volunteered and was stationed in England as a Major in the Public Information Office. Jack's eldest son, John C. Kofoed, Jr., had entered his Freshman year at Penn State College, but left school to enlist in the Marine Corps. He was stationed in the Pacific and was killed in action during the invasion of Okinawa, the bloodiest engagement in Marine Corps history. During WWII, Jack's brother, William H. Kofoed, was age forty-eight, which was too old to be drafted for military service.
In 1950 Jack Kofoed wrote "Front Page Deadline" for Merlin Press.
During the 1950s Jack Kofoed continued to write for pulp magazines, such as Fight Stories, Thrilling Sports, Sports Novels Magazines, but also wrote for men's adventure magazines, such as Argosy, Real, Adventure, and Esquire.
Jack Kofoed's younger son, William Christian Kofoed, graduated from Dartmouth College and became a newspaper reporter and publicist for a developer of casino hotels in Atlantic City, Florida, Mexico, and Cuba.
After the war, Jack Kofoed resumed his career as a sports writer and editorial columnist in syndicated newspapers.
In 1963 Jack Kofoed wrote "Fifty-Fifty (or You Can't Hide A Man Who Is Riding On A Camel" for Wake-Brook Publishing House.
In the 1960s William H. Kofoed was associated with the Anti-Vivisection Society, for which he wrote, edited, and published A-V Magazine, as well as numerous booklets and pamphlets.
William H. Kofoed died at the age of eighty-one in Palm Beach, Florida, on November 15, 1976. His wife Lillian Kofoed died three years later.
Jack Kofoed, died at the age of eighty-five in the North Miami General Hospital, on December 27, 1979.
© David Saunders 2018 |
