The song ended up being one of King’s best-known works and even became a World War I anthem.
After college, King began working for Harper’s Weekly as an associate editor.
[6] He eventually returned to Spokane, where he died on June 13, 1933, at forty-three years of age.
His work can be categorized with other notable humorists such as Mark Twain and Eugene Field, although they came from Missouri.
King’s poetry while writing daily as a columnist for the Spokane Spokesman-Review consistently reflects his comic sensibility.
"[6] His publicity agent Lee Keedick was another advocate for the undeniable quality of King’s work.
“His appearance in a lecture tour will enable his hearers to get the best possible presentation of his carefully fashioned verses, for he reads his own poetry with the inimitable style of a born actor.”[6]