Advertised as his final performances, there was incredible demand for tickets and Riley performed before his largest audiences during the tour. He and Sherley continued a show very similar to those that he and Nye had done. Riley often lamented the lack of change in the program. He found when he tried to introduce new material, or left out any of his most popular poems, the crowds would demand encores until he agreed to recite their favorites. Children's poet Following the death of his father in 1894, Riley began regretting his choice not to marry or have children. To compensate for this, he became a doting uncle, showering gifts on his nieces and nephews. He had repurchased his childhood home in 1893 and allowed his divorced sister, Mary, his widowed sister-in-law, Julia, and their daughters to live in it. He provided for all their needs and spent the summer months of 1893 living with them. He took on his nephew Edmund Eital as a personal secretary and gave him a $50,000 wedding gift in 1912. Riley was well loved by his family. Riley returned to live near Indianapolis later in 1893, boarding in a private home in the Lockerbie district, then a small suburb. He developed a close friendship with his landlords, the Nickum and Holstein families. The home became a destination for local schoolchildren to whom Riley would regularly recite poetry and tell stories. Riley's friends often visited his home, and he developed a closer relationship with Eugene Debs. The same year, he began compiling his poems of most interest to children into a new book entitled Rhymes of Childhood. The book was richly illustrated by Howard Chandler Christy, and Riley wrote a few new poems for the book under the pseudonym "Uncle Sydney." Rhymes of Childhood became Riley's best selling book, and sold millions of copies. It has remained in print continually since 1912 and helped earn him the nickname the "Children's Poet". Even Riley's rival, Clemens, commented that the book was "charming" and made him weep for his "lost youth". Later life National poet Riley had become very wealthy by the time he stopped touring in 1895 and was earning $1,000 a week. Although he retired, he continued to make minor appearances. In 1896, Riley performed four shows in Denver. Most of the performances of his later life were at civic celebrations. He was a regular speaker