Eugene Field

Eugene Field (1850–1895) was an American writer and journalist celebrated for his children’s poetry and humorous prose. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he studied at Williams College and the University of Missouri but did not graduate. Field worked as a reporter and editor in several cities, including St. Joseph, Kansas City, and Denver, before settling in Chicago, where he wrote a widely read daily column for the *Chicago Daily News*. His verse for children—later collected in volumes such as *A Little Book of Western Verse* (1889)—helped earn him the nickname “Poet of Childhood.” He died in Chicago in 1895.