Born in 1826, Stephen Foster wrote more than 200 songs in his short thirty-seven years of life. His many hits included “Camptown Races”, “Oh, Susanna”, “Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)” and “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair.”

Known as the “father of American music”, Foster was also known as “the most famous songwriter of the nineteenth century.”

Unfortunately, like the country itself, Foster’s life is shrouded in racial controversary, and he reportedly died from suicide.

Here is today’s haiku:

American Dreamer

With so much promise,

you died much too early. Oh,

Stephen, don’t you cry.

For more information see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Foster

Sad, sad, sad.