James Whitcomb Riley (October 7, 1849 - July 22, 1916) was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author.
He became more popular in spite of the bad press he received, and as a result extricated himself from poorly negotiated contracts that limited his earnings; he quickly became very wealthy..
Regularly struggling With his alcohol addiction, Riley never married or had children, and created a scandal in 1888 when he became too drunk to perform.
He traveled a touring circuit first in the Midwest, and then nationally, holding shows and making joint appearances on stage With other famous talents.
Riley gradually rose in prominence during the 1880s through his poetry reading tours.
Thanks in part to an endorsement from poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, he eventually earned successive jobs at Indiana newspaper publishers during the latter 1870s.
Riley began his career writing verses as a sign maker and submitting poetry to newspapers.
His famous works include Little Orphant Annie and The Raggedy Man.
His poems tended to be humorous or sentimental, and of the approximately one thousand poems that Riley authored, the majority are in dialect.
During his lifetime he was known as the hoosier Poet and Children\'s Poet for his dialect works and his children\'s poetry respectively.
James Whitcomb Riley (October 7, 1849 - July 22, 1916) was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author
