Ella Wheeler Wilcox was in her time a wildly popular syndicated columnist for the Hearst Publishing Empire. Her columns were avidly read across the country and she became known and the "poet of hope". She was also a poet and because of her popularity as a columnist her books sold quite well. While her prowess as a poet was not particular potent, her popularity more than made up for this.
She wrote about a hundred books:
We focus only on the one's pertinent to New Thought and if they are featured in her book Around theYear.
The fact that her ideas were rooted in the truth of New Thought meant that her column provided a powerful podium for the dissemination of these important ideas during a time of progressive transformation. Her book Poems of Power is deeply informed with New Thought ideas and she wrote an essential book in the canon of New Thought called The Heart of New Thought.
Through her work as a columnist New Thought found a forum through which the masses and intellectuals of her time could profit by her insights and transform their lives. Whereas publishers such as Elizabeth Towne were reaching many people who were favorably disposed toward intelligent insights. Ella was able to bring New Thought to the often closed minds of readers who shared the mass karma common to so many normal people.
Ella was born November 5, 1850, in the village of Johnstown, Rock County, Wisconsin. Her parents were Marcus H. Wheeler, and Sarah Pratt Wheeler, with three older children they had followed, "Grandsir Pratt" from Vermont in 1849. |
