Old Rocky: The World's First Billionaire 1939 by Oliver Allstrom ~ the life of John D. Rockefeller told in verse

Title: Old Rocky: The World's First Billionaire Centenary 1839-1939

Author: Oliver Allstrom

Description: First edition. Blue cloth stamped in silver. Penciled quotation and small address label on flyleaf, else fine. Dust jacket has a little chipping at top of spine and top right corner of front panel; in an archival mylar sleeve. 186 pages.

This modern epic poem, a biography in verse, tells the full story of John D. Rockefeller's life, work, and philanthropy, couched with many places, events, and persons significant of his milieu. The poem is conceived as a fireside session between the author and Rockefeller, wherein the author recalls to Rockefeller's memory the grand story of his life and the enduring promise of his philanthropic work. It conveys an account of how he made his riches and how he employed his wealth to work for the uplift of humanity. The pages are full of the names of friends and associates, the books and the songs that he loved, and mention is made of many of the greater historical events that took place during his life. Published in 1939, on the centenary of Rockefeller's birth.

Oliver Allstrom (1878-1963) was a prolific poet and a native of Chicago. While living in Houston in the 1910s and 1920s his poems appeared on a regular basis in the Houston Chronicle and, in 1915, he composed the city's official song, 'Houston Municipal Song'. He returned to Chicago in the later-1920s and continued to write. He was the author of several books of poetry as well as a book about the kidnapped evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson.

Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Jacket Condition: Very Good

Publisher: M. A. Donohue & Co.
Place: Chicago, Illinois
Year: 1939

Keywords: poetry, biography,