1861–1928 · American clergyman and syndicated newspaper columnist
Born in Urbana, Illinois in 1861 and ordained in 1882, Frank Crane served as a pastor for more than twenty-five years before turning, from 1909, to syndicated newspaper columns and books of reflections and advice (Wikipedia ↗). His short daily essays — collected in volumes such as Four Minute Essays and Everyday Wisdom — ran under the standing head “Dr Crane Says,” exactly the format that made a piece like “Just for Today” easy to clip, pass along, and eventually detach from its author. He died at Nice, France, in 1928. His best-known surviving text is one most people have read without ever seeing his name on it.