Meredith Nicholson

Meredith Nicholson (December 9, 1866 – December 21, 1947) was American writer, politician, and diplomat.

Biography

Nicholson was born on December 9, 1866, in Crawfordsville, Indiana, to Edward Willis Nicholson and the former Emily Meredith. Largely self-taught, Nicholson began a newspaper career in 1884 at the Indianapolis Sentinel. He moved to the Indianapolis News the following year, where he remained until 1897.

He wrote Short Flights in 1891, and continued to publish extensively, both poetry and prose until 1928. During the first quarter of the 20th century, Nicholson, along with Booth Tarkington, George Ade, and James Whitcomb Riley helped to create a Golden Age of literature in Indiana. Three of his books from that era were national bestsellers: The House of a Thousand Candles (#4 in 1906), The Port of Missing Men (#3 in 1907), and A Hoosier Chronicle (#5 in 1912).

In 1928, Nicholson entered Democratic party politics, and served for two years as a city councillor in Indianapolis. He rose through the ranks of the Democratic party and was rewarded with appointments as envoy to Paraguay, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.

Nicholson was married first to Eugenie Clementine Kountze, daughter of Herman Kountze, and then to Dorothy Wolfe Lannon, whom he later divorced.

Nicholson died on December 21, 1947, in Indianapolis, aged 81, and is buried in the Crown Hill Cemetery.

Chronological bibliography

1891: Short Flights, The Bowen-Merrill Co.

1900: The Hoosiers, The Macmillan Company

1903: The Main Chance, The Bobbs-Merrill Company

1904: Zelda Dameron, The Bobbs-Merrill Company