James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916) was an American writer, poet, and best selling author, known as the "Hoosier Poet." Riley"s poems tended to be humorous or sentimental, often in dialect. He is best known for "The Raggedy Man" and "Little Orphant Annie" -- the poem which inspired the comic character Little Orphan Annie. Volume 1 contains a biographical sketch of Riley and Volume 10 contains an index.