Milt Hagen

American songwriter, poet, playwright, and author, who wrote hundreds of songs, including ones about the American West under the pen name Sterling Sherwin. Hagen's books include "I Am in Iambics," "Holly-would," and "The Shrewd Nude, Light Verse - and Dark." Hagen's family moved from Nebraska to California just before World War I. He studied music privately, and later continued his studies at Stanford University, where he graduated from in 1921. After college, he moved to New York to work for a publisher of western songs. It didn't work out, and he spent the following years writing publicity blurbs, theatrical articles and some songs of his own before returning to California. In California, his career started to take off, and he released such collections as "American Cowboy Songs, Old and New," "Sherwin's Saddle Songs," and "Singin' in the Saddle." He also wrote two Broadway plays and several Off-Broadway shows, though none of them were successful. Born: 3 December 1892 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA Died: 12 February 1977 in Mill Valley, California, USA