author
Douglas Malloch
1877–1938
Best known as the “Lumberman’s Poet,” he turned the forests, work camps, and plainspoken spirit of the Midwest into memorable verse. His poems are direct, encouraging, and still widely shared for their warmth and resolve.
1 Audiobook
The woods
by Douglas Malloch
About the author
Born in Muskegon, Michigan, in 1877, Douglas Malloch grew up in the heart of a booming lumber region, and that world shaped much of his writing. He became known for poems that drew on woods, labor, and everyday perseverance, which helped earn him the nickname “Lumberman’s Poet.”
Malloch worked as a reporter and feature writer for the Muskegon Chronicle before moving to Chicago, where he served as an editor at American Lumberman. Alongside journalism, he wrote poetry, short fiction, and widely read pieces of light verse and commentary.
He is especially remembered for inspirational poems such as Be the Best of Whatever You Are, and for work connected to Michigan and lumber-country folklore, including The Round River Drive. Clear, rhythmic, and approachable, his writing carried a strong sense of character and encouragement that has helped it endure well beyond his lifetime.