In his lifetime Louis P. Thorpe enjoyed an unusual degree of fame and success in both music and the field of education. An accomplished violinist and woodwind performer, by the time he was in his early 20's he had studied violin under August Malzer for five years and clarinet under Charles Irving for two years. An accomplished performer, Thorpe also had spent four years at Chautauqua and three years in a popular orchestra of that time.

During World War I, John Philip Sousa accepted an invitation to join the Navy as an officer for the purpose of developing a Navy Band Corp and training men who could lead bands established in that program. Thorpe responded to announcements of this wartime endeavor being conducted at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station near Chicago. As part of their training, men in that program played in a band under Sousa which toured extensively to recruit and raise money. Thorpe enjoyed this contact and experience with Sousa and successfully completed the training, gaining appointment as leader of the Navy's 11^th Regiment Band.

When the war ended, he enrolled at Emmanuel Missionary College. He was 26 and, with his experience and versatility as a musician, was asked to direct both the college band and orchestra, as well as teach lessons in violin, clarinet and saxophone. He was very charismatic and quickly became a popular and successful teacher. When a new music building was moved a year after its construction, Thorpe jokingly played his violin in the building as it was moved across campus to its new site. He also emerged as an important figure in EMC's early widely broadcast radio station programs, conducting his groups and playing his instruments.

When Thorpe completed a baccalaureate degree at EMC in 1925, he became principal at Indiana Academy. Three years later, he accepted an offer to teach in the education department at Walla Walla College, be principal of its academy, and direct the college band. As the school year began, he joined with the music faculty in presenting what was an annual tradition, a Saturday night music faculty recital. Following a four-movement violin sonata, some Schubert art songs, and a Bach chorale on organ, Thorpe took the stage. The school paper reported what happened next:

A music student from that time would later recall:

Near the end of his time at WWC, even though he was now chair of the education department, Thorpe added the orchestra to his list of responsibilities. Additionally, in 1934, in the midst of the Great Depression, he organized and conducted a large community orchestra consisting of members of the Walla Walla Symphony and students from WWC and nearby Whitman College that presented three acclaimed performances of a program they had prepared. While at WWC he had completed a doctorate in psychology.

In 1936, Thorpe resigned and relocated to Southern California, where he was to be teach at the College of Medical Evangelists (now Loma Linda University). Within a year of arriving in Los Angeles he accepted a position at the University of Southern California to teach courses in secondary education and clinical psychology. He spent the rest of his career at USC.

Thorpe would become noted for his progressive thinking about education and for his books on psychology. The first of these, Psychological Foundations of Personality: a Guide for Students and Teachers, was published in 1938. Another, Personality and Life, a Practical Guide to Personality Improvement, was released in 1949. Two others would follow, in 1950 and 1951.

His books are still cited as references in papers being presented as another century begins. One of his beliefs, articulated in chapter seventeen of his book The Psychology of Mental Health (1950), is still regarded as consistent with prevailing but controversial views on the subject.

Even in retirement, he was consulted about his views, which he shared freely as a Professor Emeritus of USC.

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