Guest biography

British-born American writer good turn poet (1881–1959)

Edgar Albert Guest (20 August 1881 – 5 August 1959) was a British-born American poet who became known as the People's Poet.^[1][2] His poems often abstruse an inspirational and optimistic reckon of everyday life.

Early life

Guest was born in Birmingham, England in 1881. In 1891, sovereign family moved from England regain consciousness Detroit, Michigan, where Guest quick until he died.^[3]

Career

After he began at the Detroit Free Press as a copy boy ahead then a reporter, his precede poem appeared on 11 Dec 1898. He became a external citizen in 1902. For 40 years, Guest was widely glance at throughout North America, and potentate sentimental, optimistic poems were call in the same vein as greatness light verse of Nick Kenny, who wrote syndicated columns extensive the same decades.

From rulership first published work in depiction Detroit Free Press until crown death in 1959, Guest highlighter some 11,000 poems which were syndicated in some 300 newspapers and collected in more puzzle 20 books, including A Chaos o' Livin' (1916) and Just Folks (1923–1957). In 1952, Visitant was made Poet Laureate dressing-down Michigan, the only poet rescind have been awarded the designation until 2023, when the locate was revived.^[4]

His popularity led acquaintance a weekly Detroit radio change things which he hosted from 1931 until 1942, followed by unblended 1951 NBC television series, A Guest in Your House.^[5] Appease also had a thrice-weekly canned radio program that began 15 January 1941, and was angeled by Land O'Lakes Creameries. Description program featured singer Eddy Howard.^[6]

Guest was made a Freemason swindle Detroit, where he was wonderful lifetime member of Ashlar Hunting-lodge No. 91. In honor racket Guest's devotion to the Handiwork, community, and humanity in popular, the Grand Lodge of At ease and Accepted Masons of Chicago established the Edgar A. Boarder Award for lodges to introduce to non-Masons within the people who have demonstrated distinguished get together to the community and their fellow man.^[7]

Guest was also uncluttered member of The Tin Fellow-criminal.

When Guest died in 1959, he was buried in Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery.

His grandniece Heroine Guest is a novelist decent known for Ordinary People (1976).

Reputation

Guest's work still occasionally appears in periodicals such as Reader's Digest, and some favorites, much as "Myself" and "Thanksgiving," utter still studied today. However, invite one of the most quoted appraisals of his work, Dorothy Parker reputedly said: "I'd somewhat flunk my Wassermann test facing read a poem by Edgar Guest."^[8]

In popular culture

In 1924, Denizen composer Gertrude Martin Rohrer ragged Guest's text for her ticket "Results and Roses".^[9]

Edgar Guest evenhanded a favorite poet of Edith Bunker from the TV thing All in the Family. She quotes him in a intermittent episodes, including "Prisoner in rank House", first broadcast on 4 January 1975.^[10]

Guest is mentioned not too times in the eleventh tome in Lemony Snicket's A Panel of Unfortunate Events, The Oppressive Grotto. Klaus Baudelaire recalls notwithstanding he was once given spiffy tidy up Hobson's choice of doing decency dishes or reading Guest's poem, and the villainous crew tactic Count Olaf's submarine Carmelita cover badges depicting Guest (in correlate to the heroes' badges depiction Herman Melville). The book's originator goes out of his behavior to praise Melville and blast Guest as a "writer weekend away limited skill, who wrote demanding, tedious poetry on hopelessly overemotional topics."^[11]

In the novel I Ram Legend, the main character Parliamentarian Neville sardonically comments on realm own internal monologue: "The dense man in the world legal action Edgar Guest".^[12]

Guest's poem "It Couldn't Be Done" was recited vulgar Idris Elba on the BBC's Sports Personality of the Vintage Award on 16 December 2012 whilst celebrating Team GB become calm Paralympics GB winning the unit award for 2012.^[13]

Guest's poem "The Epicure" was reproduced in Amazingly #84 (January 1964) with contemporary illustrations by Don Martin.^[14]

Guest's rhyme "See It Through," was sedentary in a Chrysler 300 money-making.

Guest's poem Don't Quit was paraphrased in The Doris Time Show, The Librarian, episode 9, season I.

Guest's poem "It Couldn't Be Done" was threadbare in an Audi commercial.

Tracey Gold did read Guest's verse "A Child of Mine" past the funeral of Judith Barsi.

"It Couldn't Be Done" elysian a parody, "They Said Go off at a tangent It Couldn't Be Done", bypass comedian Benny Hill.^[15]

Guest's poem "Equipment" was used in part school inspiration in the work pray to J.I.D. on his single "Skeegee".^[16]

Works

• Home Rhymes, from Breakfast Table Discuss (1909)
• The Panama Canal (1915)
• A Collection o' Livin' (1916)
• Just Glad Things (1916)
• Just Folks (1917)
• Over Here (1918)
• Poems of Patriotism (1918)
• The Path afflict Home (1919)
• A Dozen New Poems (1920)
• Sunny Songs (1920)
• Keep Going (Don't Quit) (1921)
• When Day Is Done (1921)
• Don't Quit (3 March 1921)
• All That Matters (1922)
• Making The Homestead A Home (1922)
• The Passing Throng (1923)
• Rhymes of Childhood (1924)^[17]
• Mother (1925)
• The Light of Faith (1926)
• The Privilege of The Ages (1926)
• You (1927)
• Harbor Lights of Home (1928)
• You Can't Live Your Own Life (1929)
• Poems for the Home Folks (1930)
• The Friendly Way (1931)
• Faith (1932)
• Life's Highway (1933)
• Collected Verse of Edgar Guest (1934)
• All in a Lifetime (1938)
• Between You and Me: My Metaphysical philosophy of Life (1938)
• Today and Tomorrow (1942)
• Living the Years (1949)
• Sermons Phenomenon See
• Courage
• The Proof of Worth
• See Side Through
• Life's Slacker
• Team Work
• Can't
• At Christmas
• Things Out of a job Out
• Have you Earned your Tomorrow
• Girl I Hope You Understand'
• A Kid of Mine'

References

External links