Edgar Guest

Edgar Albert Guest was born in Birmingham, England on August 20th 1881. 

In 1891 the family moved to the United States. Guest began his career at the Detroit Free Press as a copy boy and then moved on to reporting. The paper published his first poem on 11th December 1898. 

Guest became a naturalized citizen in 1902. For 40 years, he was read widely and avidly throughout North America. His intrinsically sentimental, optimistic poems brought him a large audience and following as well as the moniker of ‘People’s Poet’.

During his career he wrote an astounding 11,000 poems which were syndicated in some 300 newspapers and collected and published across more than 20 books. Guest was also made Poet Laureate of Michigan, the only poet to have been awarded the title.

Such was the devotion of his readership that he was given a weekly Detroit radio show from 1931 until 1942. In 1951 NBC gave him his own TV series, ‘A Guest in Your Home’. In between he hosted a thrice-weekly transcribed radio programme from January 15th, 1941, sponsored by Land O'Lakes Creameries. The singer Eddy Howard featured.

Guest was also a Freemason and a lifetime member of Ashlar Lodge No. 91. In honour of Guest's devotion to the Craft, community, and humanity in general, the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Michigan established the Edgar A. Guest Award for lodges to present to non-Masons within the community who demonstrated distinguished service to the community and their fellow man.

Edgar Albert Guest died on 5th August 1959, at the age of 77, in Detroit, Michigan. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.

Create an account