Wilbur H. Ping Ferry (1910-1995) was a self-styled town crank, an influential and iconoclastic figure who seemingly knew everyone worth knowing in the mid-20th century. Businessman, thinker, activist, government advisor and philanthropist, Ping's career was as varied as his pronouncements. He taught John F. Kennedy at Choate, advised Eddie Rickenbacker at Eastern Airlines, worked a craps table in Havana, reported for several New Hampshire newspapers, and handled public relations for Sidney Hillman and his CIO/PAC. After World War II, he joined a public relations firm where he worked closely with Henry Ford II and John D. Rockefeller. He helped Ford establish his foundation, and with Robert Hutchins set up the Fund for the Republic, which later became the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara, California.