James Whitcomb Riley

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Riley began writing to the well-known American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow during late 1875 seeking his endorsement to help him start a career as a poet. He submitted many poems to Longfellow, whom he considered the greatest living poet. Not receiving a prompt response, he sent similar letters to John Townsend Trowbridge and several other prominent writers asking for an endorsement. Longfellow finally replied in a brief letter, telling Riley, "I have read [the poems] in great pleasure, and think they show a true poetic faculty and insight." Riley carried the letter with him everywhere and, hoping to receive a job offer and to create a market for his poetry, he began sending poems to dozens of newspapers touting Longfellow's endorsement. Among the newspapers to take an interest in his poems was the Indianapolis Journal, a major Republican Party metropolitan newspaper in Indiana. Among the first poems it purchased from him were "Song of the New Year", "An Empty Nest", and a short story entitled "A Remarkable Man".

The editors of the Anderson Democrat discovered Riley's poems in the Indianapolis Journal and offered him a job as a reporter in February 1877. Riley accepted. He worked gathering local news, writing articles, and assisting with typesetting. He continued to write poems regularly for the newspaper and to sell other poems to larger newspapers. During the year, Riley spent working in Anderson, he met and courted Edora Mysers. The couple became engaged, but ended the relationship after they had decided against marriage in August.

Despite local success at having his poems published, his submissions continued to be rejected by established eastern periodicals as being below their standards. Riley began formulating a plot to prove his work was of good quality and that it was being rejected only because his name was unknown in the east. He wrote a poem imitating the style of Edgar Allan Poe and submitted it to the Kokomo Dispatch under a fictitious name claiming it was a long-lost Poe poem. The Dispatch published the poem and reported it as such. Riley and two other men who were part of the plot waited two weeks for the poem to be published by major newspapers in Chicago, Boston, and New York to gauge their reaction; they were disappointed. While a few newspapers believed the poem was authentic, most did not, claiming the quality was too poor to be written by Poe. A Dispatch employee learned the truth of the incident and reported it to the Kokomo Tribune, which published an exposé that outed Riley as a conspirator behind the hoax. The revelation damaged the Dispatch's credibility and harmed Riley's reputation.

In the aftermath of the Poe plot, Riley was dismissed from the Democrat. He returned to Greenfield to spend time writing poetry. He met Clara Louise Bottsford, a school teacher boarding in his father's home. They found they had much in common, particularly their love of literature. The couple began a 12-year, intermittent relationship, Riley's longest. In mid-1878, the couple had their first breakup caused partly by Riley's alcoholism. Riley made a first attempt to give up liquor by joining a local temperance organization but quit after a few weeks.

Without a steady income, his financial situation worsened. Riley began submitting his poems to more prominent literary magazines, including Scribner's Monthly, but was informed that although it showed promise, his work was still short of the standards required for use in their publications. Locally, he was still dealing with the stigma of the Poe plot. The Indianapolis Journal and other newspapers refused to accept his poetry, leaving him desperate for income. On the advice of a friend, in January 1878 Riley paid an entrance fee to join a traveling lecture circuit where he could give poetry readings. In exchange, he received a portion of the profit his performances earned. These circuits were popular at the time, and Riley quickly earned a local reputation for his entertaining readings.

In August 1878, he followed Indiana Governor James D. Williams as speaker at a civic event in a small town near Indianapolis. He recited a recently composed poem, "A Childhood Home of Long Ago", telling of life in pioneer Indiana. The poem was well received and was given good reviews by several newspapers.

Flying Islands of the Night is the only play Riley wrote and published. Written while he was traveling with the Adelphians but never performed, the play has similarities to A Midsummer Night's Dream, which Riley may have used as a model. It concerns a kingdom besieged by evil forces of a sinister queen who is defeated eventually by an angel-like heroine. Most reviews were positive. Riley published the play, and it became popular in the central Indiana area during late 1878, helping him to convince newspapers to accept his poetry again. In November 1879, he was offered a position as a columnist at the Indianapolis Journal and accepted after being encouraged by E.B. Matindale, the paper's chief editor.

Although the play and his newspaper work helped expose him to a wider audience, the chief source of his increasing popularity was his performances on the lecture circuit. He gave both dramatic and comedic readings of his poetry, and by early 1879 could guarantee large crowds when he performed. In an 1894 article, Hamlin Garland wrote that Riley's celebrity resulted from his reading talent saying, "his vibrant individual voice, his flexible lips, his droll glance, united to make him at once poet and comedian—comedian in the sense in which makes for tears as well as for laughter". Although he was a good performer, his acts were not entirely original in style; he frequently copied practices developed by Samuel Clemens and Will Carleton. His tour in 1880 took him to every city in Indiana where he was introduced by local dignitaries and other popular figures, including novelist Maurice Thompson with whom he began to develop a close friendship.

Developing and maintaining publicity became a constant job requiring more of his attention as his fame grew. Keeping his alcohol addiction secret, maintaining the persona of a simple rural poet and a friendly common person became most important. Riley identified these traits as the basis of his popularity during the mid-1880s and wrote of his need to maintain a fictional persona. He encouraged the stereotype by writing poetry he thought would help build his identity. He was aided by editorials he wrote and submitted to the Indianapolis Journal offering observations on events from his perspective as a "humble rural poet". He changed his appearance to look more mainstream, and began by shaving his mustache off and abandoning the flamboyant dress he employed in his early circuit tours.

By 1880 his poems were published nationally and receiving positive reviews. "Tom Johnson's Quit" was carried by newspapers in twenty states, thanks in part to the careful cultivation of his popularity. Riley became frustrated that despite his growing acclaim he found it difficult to achieve financial success. In the early 1880s, in addition to his steady performing, Riley began producing many poems to increase his income. Half of his poems were written during this period. The constant labor had adverse effects on his health, which was worsened by his drinking. At the urging of Maurice Thompson, he again attempted to stop drinking liquor, but was unable to give it up for more than a few months.

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