The first composition of this type was a campaign song that Handy composed for E.H. Crump, a Memphis candidate for mayor. The song, 'Mr. Crump', was later titled Memphis Blues and became very popular. Memphis Blues was such a huge success that Handy published it in 1912. Although he sold the rights to the song for a mere $100, his musical style had been asserted and in 1914, at age 40, he published his most famous composition St.Louis Blues. Handy began to write and publish prolifically, and his popularity soared. He opened his own publishing business and worked steadily throughout the 1920's and 1930's despite problems with his vision. In 1943, he fell from a subway station which caused him to go blind. In addition to composing, Handy worked laboriously at compiling Blues tunes which he published in a book called Blues: An Anthology in 1926. He later published Negro Authors And Composers of the United States (1935), and Unsung Americans Sung (1944). His biography, Father of the Blues was published in 1941. Handy's wife, Elizabeth, died in 1937. Handy later married Irma Louise Logan in 1954 at the age of 80. He suffered a stroke one year later and was confined to a wheelchair. Still a very popular figure, Handy's 84th birthday party was held at the Waldorf-Astoria with more than 800 people attending. He died on March 28, 1958 at the age of 84. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, NY with many notables attending the funeral service and an estimated 150,000 people along the funeral route.