Edgar Wilson "Bill" Nye (August 25, 1850 – February 22, 1896) was an American journalist, humorist, author, and lecturer. He was best known for his humorous newspaper sketches and columns, many of which were based on his experiences in the American West. He founded and edited the Laramie Boomerang in Laramie, Wyoming Territory, and subsequently became a nationally syndicated newspaper writer and a popular lecturer. He was closely associated with the poet James Whitcomb Riley, with whom he toured and collaborated on Nye and Riley's Railway Guide (1888).
Early life
Nye was born on August 25, 1850, in Shirley, Maine, the oldest of three sons of Franklin and Elizabeth Loring Nye. His father was a lumberman. In 1852 the family moved to a settlement on the St. Croix River in Wisconsin, where they took up farming. Nye received a common-school education, prepared for a career in law, and briefly taught school. He also began writing for local Wisconsin newspapers.
In 1876 Nye left Wisconsin and moved west to Laramie, Wyoming Territory. He studied law and passed the Wyoming bar examination. He served for a time as a justice of the peace and subsequently held several local public positions, including postmaster.
Nye's principal occupation soon became journalism. He contributed humorous sketches to the Laramie Daily Sentinel, and his accounts of western life were reprinted by newspapers outside Wyoming. His early newspaper work established the style that would make him nationally famous: deadpan narration, exaggeration, wordplay, mock seriousness, and frequent jokes at his own expense.
