Hank George, Life Underwriting Pioneer, Dies at 77

He was the co-author of a National Underwriter book that appeared in 1996, “Getting It Issued,” the first book about underwriting aimed at life insurance agents and brokers. He also wrote a field underwriting guide for the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies, which is now part of Finseca.

The Academy of Life Underwriting gave him an outstanding achievement award in 2016.

He appeared as a speaker at many conferences, including dozens of conferences organized by the Society of Actuaries, where he influenced how life insurers and others see mortality and morbidity risk.

In recent years, he and the authors he edited addressed topics such as the development of accelerated underwriting programs and the role of artificial intelligence in underwriting.

The Philip K. Dick Connection

In the 1960s, George collected autographs, and, in connection with that hobby, managed to get a full-page, signed letter from Philip K. Dick, the author of the science fiction novel that inspired the film “Blade Runner.” The letter was dated Jan. 10, 1965, exactly 59 years before George died.

The full text of the Dick letter is visible 1 minute and 10 seconds into a memorial video that his family posted along with an online version of his obituary.

Dick told George that the original manuscript of one of Dick’s novels, “The Man Who Japed,” was 25,000 words longer than the published version, and that the editor, Don Wollheim, had required him to make enormous cuts.

“I have kept the deleted material, though,” Dick wrote to George. “Sometime would you like me to gather it together and mail it to you? It has never seen print; you’d be the only person besides myself — and Don and my agent — who ever saw it.”

Hank George. Credit: George family