Edgar Wilson Nye

Template:Short description Template:More footnotes needed Template:Infobox person Edgar Wilson "Bill" Nye (August 25, 1850Template:SndFebruary 22, 1896) was an American humorist. He was also the founder and editor of the Laramie Boomerang.

Biography

Nye was born in Shirley, Maine. His parents removed to a farm on the St. Croix river in northern Wisconsin in 1852, and he was educated at River Falls, Wisconsin, where he studied law. He moved to Wyoming Territory, and was admitted to the bar at Laramie City, Wyoming Territory in 1876. There he served as justice of the peace, superintendent of schools, member of the city council and postmaster.<ref name="EB1911">{{#if: |

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The Boomerang was founded while Nye was the postmaster of Laramie. It launched him to national fame, gaining subscribers in every state and some foreign countries. In 1892, he wrote in The Century Magazine:

There is a grim and ghastly humor -- the humor that is born of a pathetic philosophy -- which now and then strikes me in reading the bright and keen-witted work of our American paragraphers. It is a humor that may be crystallized by hunger and sorrow and tears. It is not found elsewhere as it is in America. It is out of the question in England, because an Englishman cannot poke fun at himself. He cannot joke about an empty flour-barrel. We can: especially if by doing it we may swap the joke for another barrel of flour. We can never be a nation of snobs so long as we are willing to poke fun at ourselves.{{#if:|

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Some of his works include Bill Nye's Comic History of the United States, Baled Hay, Remarks, Bill Nye and Boomerang, Bill Nye's History of England, and Bill Nye's Red Book. He is credited with the remark "Wagner's music is better than it sounds.".

File:Program from Nye and Riley performance. - DPLA - 10d62d4dd6cd4ad4886be05dc72482d4 (page 1) (cropped).jpg

Program from Nye and Riley performance.

Late in his career, he was briefly associated with James Whitcomb Riley with whom he wrote two books. They also appeared together on the lecture circuit.Template:Sfn He also traveled and lectured with Luther Burbank.

He passed the later years of his life in Arden, North Carolina where he died of meningitis, and was buried in Calvary Episcopal Churchyard in Fletcher, Henderson County, North Carolina. A historical marker honoring him is located in St. Croix County, Wisconsin, between the towns of Roberts and River Falls, and a second is located in Fletcher, North Carolina. A small monument marks his birthplace in Shirley, Maine.

Gallery

• Cover, Nye and Riley's Railway Guide (1888), written by Nye and James Whitcomb Riley
  Cover, Nye and Riley's Railway Guide (1888), written by Nye and James Whitcomb Riley
• Illustration by F. Opper, Bill Nye's Comic History of the United States (1894)
  Illustration by F. Opper, Bill Nye's Comic History of the United States (1894)
• Cover, Bill Nye's Comic History of England (1896), illustrated by F. Opper
  Cover, Bill Nye's Comic History of England (1896), illustrated by F. Opper

References

• Template:Cite book

External links

• Template:Gutenberg author
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• Readings of Bill Nye stories at Mister Ron's Basement podcast, indexed (ronevry.com)
• Template:Find a Grave
• Template:LCAuth