N. P. Willis

''Nathaniel Parker Willis'', also known as ''N. P. Willis'',<ref name=Baker3>Baker, 3</ref> (January 20, 1806 – January 20, 1867) was an American author, poet and editor who worked with several notable American writers including Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He became the highest-paid magazine writer of his day. For a time, he was the employer of former slave and future writer Harriet Jacobs. His brother was the composer Richard Storrs Willis and his sister wrote under the name Fanny Fern. Born in Portland, Maine, Willis came from a family of publishers. His grandfather owned newspapers in Massachusetts and Virginia, and his father was the founder of 'Youth's Companion', the first newspaper specifically for children. Willis developed an interest in literature while attending Yale College and began publishing poetry. After graduation, he worked as an overseas correspondent for the 'New York Mirror'. He eventually moved to New York and began to build his literary reputation. Working with multiple publications, he was earning about US$100 per article and between $5,000<ref>Beers, 262</ref> and $10,000 per year.<ref name=Baker88>Baker, 88</ref> In 1846, he started his own publication, the 'Home Journal', which was eventually renamed 'Town & Country'. Shortly after, Willis moved to a home on the Hudson River where he lived a semi-retired life until his death in 1867. Willis embedded his own personality into his writing and addressed his readers personally, specifically in his travel writings, so that his reputation was built in part because of his character. Critics, including his sister in her novel 'Ruth Hall', occasionally described him as being effeminate and Europeanized. Willis also published several poems, tales, and a play. Despite his intense popularity for a time, at his death Willis was nearly forgotten.