Stoddard King

Stoddard King (August 19, 1889 - June 13, 1933) was an American author and songwriter.

King was born on August 19, 1889, Jackson, Wisconsin to Louis Andrew King and his wife, Clara Viola (Stoddard) King. At a young age, King and his family moved to Spokane, Washington, where his father acted as a freight agent for the Spokane International Railway. In 1907, King began to work for The Spokesman-Review.The owner, William H. Cowles encouraged King to apply to Cowles alma mater, Yale University, and loaned the King family money for the tuition. While attending Yale, King was an editor of the Yale Record and managing editor of the Yale Daily News, and a member of the Elizabethan Club and Skull and Bones, while continuing to write for The Spokesman-Review. King became a very popular writer for magazines across the nation. Some of his best known pieces are “What the Queen Said” and “The Raspberry Tree”. People often liked King’s writing because of the humor he added to it. People also liked King because he was gentle, loving, sane, dignified, and friendly.

During his time at Yale, King also helped write the song “There's a Long Long Trail A-Winding”. The song ended up being one of King’s best-known works and even became a World War I anthem. Not only could King write well, he was also very smart. He graduated from Yale as eighth in his class. After college, King began working for Harper’s Weekly as an associate editor. He also served in the National Guard during World War I. In 1914, King joined the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), after he had worked with Alonzo Elliot and composed other songs such as “There’s A Wee Cottage On The Hillside” and “Enchanted River”. Although known for many things, King still preferred to be recognized as a columnist for The Spokesman-Review. He eventually returned to Spokane, where he died on June 13, 1933 at forty-three years of age.

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