There's little doubt that FF was an 'interesting' character.
And before I go to my main point, may I say that my understanding of Freddy's education was that he had studied for the first year in a classics course in some US. university.
However the Wikipedia entry (which of course, may have been edited) notes:
He graduated from Woodward High School in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1911 and attended the University of Cincinnati where he studied liberal arts and later (for two years) Biblical Greek,[1][3] with the intention of becoming a Presbyterian preacher.[2] He learned German and could read Latin and Greek and in later years learned Spanish, Portuguese and French and a basic understanding of Hebrew.[3] His association with the Bible Students began after he read some of the literature of Charles Taze Russell. He was baptized as a Bible Student on either November 30, 1913,[4] or, according to Franz, April 5, 1914.[5]
In 1920 he joined the Watch Tower headquarters staff in Brooklyn, New York[2] and in 1926 became a member of the editorial staff as a Bible researcher and writer for the Society’s publications
There is no explanation as to why he dropped out of the course in which he was enrolled. But it seems to have something to do with his interest in Charlie Russell's mob. His years of university study were likely 1912 and 1913, and he was baptised as a Bible Student in 1913 or 1914, which I guess was a critical date in BS thought.
I wonder what he did between his baptism and his joining Brooklyn HQ in 1920?
I've always thought of him as a frustrated Bible scholar, and perhaps his appointment to the WTS editorial staff in 1926 was the culmination of his own dream. But maybe he did have greater ambitions.
I think that he became the 'ghost writer' for Joe Rutherford, and was likely filling an important role in NY Bethel by the 1940's as Knorr was starting his era of authority.
How the partnership of Knorr/Franz developed would be one of the more interesting stories about the WTS.
