Portal:Indianapolis/Selected biography/10
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James Whitcomb Riley October 7, 1849 - July 22, 1916) was an American writer and poet. Known as the "Hoosier Poet" and the "Children's Poets," he started his career in 1875 writing newspaper verse in Indiana dialect for the Indianapolis Journal. His verse tended to be humorous or sentimental, and of the approximately one-thousand poems that Riley published, over half are in dialect. Claiming that “simple sentiments that come from the heart” were the secret of his success, Riley satisfied the public with down-to-earth verse that was "heart high."
Although Riley was a bestselling author in the early 1900s and earned a steady income from royalties, he also traveled and gave public readings of his poetry. His favorite authors were Robert Burns and Charles Dickens, and Riley himself befriended bestselling Indiana authors such as Booth Tarkington, George Ade and Meredith Nicholson. Many of his works were illustrated by the popular illustrator Howard Chandler Christy.
As a lasting tribute, the citizens of Greenfield, Indiana hold a festival every year in Riley's honor. Taking place the first weekend of October, the Riley Festival traditionally commences with a flower parade in which local elementary school children place flowers around the statue of Riley on the county courthouse lawn, while the Greenfield-Central High School band plays lively music in honor of the poet.
