James Whitcomb Riley

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James Whitcomb Riley's memorial in his hometown of Greenfield , Indiana

James Whitcomb Riley (born October 7, 1849 in Greenfield , Indiana , † July 22, 1916 in Indianapolis , Indiana) was an American writer and poet .

life and work

Riley's best known work is called Little Orphant Annie . One of the most famous poems by Whitcomb Riley is When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck . It has the derived so-called duck test taken in the 1950 entry into the American policy and the name duck typing results in line with this. However, the original origin of this phrase is disputed. It could go back to the logic of Wilhelm von Ockham .

Riley is best known for his poems written in the Indiana ("Hoosier") dialect. Sometimes he also wrote children's poems. Since children were generally very important to him, he was committed to them. The Riley Children's Foundation, which built the Riley Hospital For Children in Indianapolis, Indiana, still exists today .

Riley kept many contacts with famous people of the time, such as B. Mark Twain . He died on July 22, 1916 at the age of 66 in Indianapolis, where he was buried in Crown Hill Cemetery.

In 1898 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters .

Film adaptations (selection)

  • William Nicholas Selig (Director): There, little girl, don't cry . 1910.
  • William Nicholas Selig (Director): The old swimming hole . 1910.
  • Ulysses Davis (Director): The old man and Jim . 1911.
  • Bannister Mervin (Director): An old sweetheart of mine . 1911.
    • Remake: Harry Garson (Director): An old sweetheart of mine . 1923.
  • Colin Campbell (Director): A hoosier Romance . 1918.

literature

  • David J. Bodenhamer et al. a. (Ed.): The encyclopedia of Indianapolis . University Press, Bloomington 1994, ISBN 0-253-31222-1 .
  • George S. Cottman: Some reminiscences of James Whitcomb Riley . In: Indiana Magazine of History , Vol. 14 (1918), Issue 2, pp. 99-107, ISSN  0019-6673 .
  • Richard Crowder: Those innocent years. The legacy and inheritance of a hero of the Victorian era: James Whitcomb Riley . Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis 1957.
  • Philip A. Greasley (Ed.): Dictionary of Midwestern literatures, Vol. 1: The authors . University Press, Bloomington 2001, ISBN 978-0-253-33609-5 .
  • Elizabeth J. Van Allen: James Whitcomb Riley. A life . University Press, Bloomington 1999, ISBN 0-253-33591-4 .

Web links

Commons : James Whitcomb Riley  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Members: James Whitcomb Riley. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed April 22, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Riley, James Whitcomb
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American writer and poet
DATE OF BIRTH October 7, 1849
PLACE OF BIRTH Greenfield , Indiana
DATE OF DEATH July 22, 1916
Place of death Indianapolis , Indiana