author
Douglass Sherley
1857–1917
A Louisville-born writer, journalist, and poet, he moved between newspaper work, self-published fiction, and the literary lecture circuit. His career took on new visibility when James Whitcomb Riley brought him into a national touring company in the 1890s.
5 Audiobooks
A Few Short Sketches
by Douglass Sherley
The Inner Sisterhood A Social Study in High Colors
by Douglass Sherley
The Story of a Picture
by Douglass Sherley
A Spray of Kentucky Pine Placed at the Feet of the Dead Poet James Whitcomb Riley
by Douglass Sherley
Love Instigated: The Story of a Carved Ivory Umbrella Handle
by Douglass Sherley
About the author
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, George Douglass Sherley (June 27, 1857–December 28, 1917) came from a wealthy family connected with railroad interests. He studied at Centre College and then at the University of Virginia, but he also worked as a journalist for the Louisville Courier-Journal, beginning in the 1870s.
Sherley wrote poetry, short stories, and fiction, and he used his own money to publish some of his work in the 1880s. Surviving bibliographic records and later reprints show titles including The Inner Sisterhood, A Few Short Sketches, The Story of a Picture, Love Instigated, A Spray of Kentucky Pine, and The Valley of Unrest.
His writing drew limited attention at first, but his profile rose after he joined poet James Whitcomb Riley on tour in the 1890s. That connection helped introduce Sherley to a wider literary audience in the American Midwest and beyond.