Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. was co-author, with his sister Ernestine, of Cheaper by the Dozen and Belles on Their Toes. Under his own name, he wrote Time Out for Happiness and Ancestors of the Dozen. He was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, the 5th child (and first boy) of the 12 children born to efficiency experts Frank Gilbreth, Sr. and Lillian Moller Gilbreth, and grew up in the family home in Montclair, New Jersey.

During World War II, he served as a naval officer in the South Pacific. In 1947, he returned to The Post and Courier as an editorial writer and columnist. In his later years, he relocated to Charleston, South Carolina, where he went on to be a journalist, author, and newspaper executive.