Cale Young Rice

Cale Young Rice (December 7, 1872 – January 24, 1943) was an American poet and dramatist.

He was born in Dixon, Kentucky to Laban Marchbanks Rice, a Confederate veteran and tobacco merchant, and his wife Martha Lacy. He was a younger brother of Laban Lacy Rice, a noted educator. Cale Rice grew up in Evansville, Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky. He was educated at Cumberland University and at Harvard (A.B., 1895; A.M., 1896).

He was married to the popular author Alice Hegan Rice; they worked together on several books. The marriage was childless, and Cale committed suicide by gunshot during the night of January 23-24 at his home in Louisville a year after her death due to his sorrow at losing her.

Cale Rice's poems were collected and published in a single volume by his brother, Laban Lacy Rice.

His birthplace in Dixon is designated by Kentucky State Historical Marker 1508, which reads:

"Birthplace of Rice brothers, Cale Young, 1872-1943, noted poet and author; Laban Lacy, 1870-1973, well-known educator and author. Lacy published The Best Poetic Works of Cale Young Rice after Cale's death. Included in famous collection is poem, "The Mystic." Cale married Alice Hegan, also a distinguished Kentucky writer. Home overlooks Memorial Garden."

Verse

 * From Dusk to Dusk (1898)
 * With Omar (1900)
 * Song Surf (1900)
 * Nirvana Days (1908)
 * Many Gods (1910)
 * At the World's Heart (1914)

Plays

 * Charles di Tocca (1903)
 * Yolanda of Cypress (1906)
 * A Night in Avignon (1907)
 * The Immortal Lure (1911)
 * Porzia (1913)

Collection

 * Collected Plays and Poems (two volumes, 1915)