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Walter R. Brooks was born on January 9, 1886 in Rome, New York. He attended the Mohegan Lake Military Academy from 1902 to 1904 and the University of Rochester from 1904 to 1906. In 1906 he went to New York City to study homeopathic medicine at the Homeopathic Medical College and Flower Hospital. He dropped out of medical school at the end of 1908. He found employment with an advertising agency, and then temporarily retired in 1911 after receiving a considerable inheritance. In 1917, he went to work for the American Red Cross and later did editorial work for several magazines, including The New Yorker.

In 1915, his first work, a sonnet titled Haunted, was published in the Century magazine. He is best remembered for his short stories and children's books. His first short story for adults, Harden's Chance, appeared in the Forum magazine for December 1915. Altogether he published more than 180 stories. His short story, Ed Signs the Pledge, about a talking horse was the basis for the 1960s television comedy series Mister Ed. He published one novel for adults, Ernestine Takes Over and a guidebook, New York: An Intimate Guide. The first Freddy the Pig book, To and Again, was published in 1927. He wrote 25 more books wrote about Freddy the Pig and his friends. He died on August 17, 1958.

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