Issue 10 - July2004

Bill Luckey and Chiropractic Economics

He was quiet and unassuming, but passionate in his commitment to the chiropractic healing art and the profession. William L. Luckey of Lansing, Mich., future founder and publisher of the Digest of Chiropractic Economics, may have first come to the profession’s attention in 1950, when he participated in the formation of the Chiropractic Editors’ Guild during the National Chiropractic Association’s annual convention in Washington, D.C.

During the next few years he worked as executive director of the Michigan Chiropractic Association and beginning in 1954, began publishing a periodic newsletter which was the fledgling beginning of today’s Chiropractic Economics.

In 1958 Luckey decided to elevate the newsletter into a more unique contribution to chiropractic. With an anticipated audience of 21,000 doctors of chiropractic in the United States and Canada, he changed the newsletter into the magazine, the Digest of Chiropractic Economics.

The magazine was intended to “deal entirely with economic subjects such as practice building, clinic design, community service, public speaking, as well as financial, taxation, patient relationship and an infinite number of other subjects, knowledge of which will help the doctor of chiropractic to conduct a more business-like and financially successful type of practice.”

He planned to leave topics such as “clinical subjects…legislative problems and particularly internal relationships” to “Local, State, National, International and school publications.” At least, that was the plan.

The plan changed
In short order, Luckey’s original vision was permutated. Clinical subjects, legislative and judicial news and commentaries dealing with intra-professional politics soon filled the pages of Chiropractic Economics.

More than 20 years later this change in content was noted by Ernest Napolitano, DC, president of New York Chiropractic College (NYCC). “In a time when almost all chiropractic magazines were the reflection of one man, complete with pictures and articles of self-aggrandizement, the Digest came on to the scene like a breath of fresh air,” suggested the NYCC president. “The Digest reflected the spirit of the times,” he continued, “He [Luckey] loved and encouraged free speech. He allowed all views and ideas to be published.”

Although he may have written, rewritten or edited much of what appeared in the magazine in those early days, Bill Luckey rarely injected himself into its pages. As chiropractor-anthropologist Clarence Weiant observed, the magazine carried no editorial page.

One of the few pieces attributed to Luckey himself was a news item concerning Dr. B.J. Palmer, which appeared in the May/June 1961 issue of the periodical. Luckey had been attending a Parker seminar in Dallas when news of B.J.’s death was announced and he witnessed Dr. David Palmer’s reaction. His interpretation of the son’s response was brief and solemn.

A friend of chiropractic
The work of the magazine involved Bill Luckey with many constituencies within the profession. He was well known and liked by college leaders, and a “Digest Loan Fund” was established in 1964, which allowed students to borrow funds. The NYCC board of trustees appointed him to their ranks in 1979.

Former Palmer College President Jerome McAndrews, DC, recalled that Luckey had served as public relations director for the Davenport school in the 1960s.

Luckey enjoyed professional conventions and could often be found engaged in lengthy discussions with chiropractors and their associates in the coffee shops and restaurants of convention hotels. Fellow editors’ guild member Robert B. Mawhiney, DC, observed that “Bill was always where the action was as long as chiropractic was the reason behind the news.”

His work with the guild continued for decades and he used this forum to aid the editors of state journals in improving their publications.

Faye B. Eagles, DC, of North Carolina would describe him as “a friend with moxie.” Arlan W. Fuhr, DC of Activator Methods, Inc. described him as “a man of his word.”

Upon Mr. Luckey’s death in December 1980, President Napolitano of NYCC solicited dozens of remembrances from friends throughout the chiropractic profession, which appeared as a tribute to the Chiropractic Economics founder. It was, as the magazine’s staff noted in the January/February 1981 issue, something “Bill never would have approved of.”

Yet after decades of selfless giving, it was time to memorialize “William L. Luckey, humanitarian, publisher, author and friend of the chiropractic profession.”

After Luckey’s death, the magazine continued, headed by his wife Helen. Later, in 1983, Luckey’s niece, Gaynold M. Maly, was named the new president of the company.

In 1995, the Doyle Group purchased the magazine and continues to publish it, as Chiropractic Economics celebrates its 50th year in publishing.