Ernest Lawrence Thayer

Born into a wealthy family in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Ernest Lawrence Thayer earned a BA in philosophy from Harvard University in 1885. As a student, he edited the Harvard Lampoon alongside William Randolph Hearst. Years later, when Hearst took over the San Francisco Examiner, he hired Thayer to write for the newspaper. Thayer contributed ballads to the Sunday editions, and one of his pieces of comic verse, “Casey at the Bat,” became an American classic. This poem became famous after actor William DeWolf Hopper included it in his radio performances.

In 1912, Thayer moved to Santa Barbara, California, where he lived until his death on August 21, 1940.