James Merrill (1926-1995) was an American poet known for his distinctive formal style. He was the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1977, and completed his three-volume apocalyptic epic The Changing Light at Sandover in 1980. Born in New York City, Merrill is the son of Charles E. Merrill (1885-1956), one of the founding partners of the Merrill Lynch investment firm. Coincidentally, the poet was born in the building that would become the site of the infamous 1970 Greenwich Village townhouse explosion, caused when a bomb, targeted for military men and their dates at a ball scheduled at Fort Dix, NJ, prematurely exploded as it was being constructed by members of the domestic terrorist group Weather Underground. Merrill memorialized the event in his poem “18 West 11th Street.”
James Merrill (1926-1995) was an American poet known for his distinctive formal style. He was the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1977, and completed his three-volume apocalyptic epic The Changing Light at Sandover in 1980. Born in New York City, Merrill is the son of Charles E. Merrill (1885-1956), one of the founding partners of the Merrill Lynch investment firm. Coincidentally, the poet was born in the building that would become the site of the infamous 1970 Greenwich Village townhouse explosion, caused when a bomb, targeted for military men and their dates at a ball scheduled at Fort Dix, NJ, prematurely exploded as it was being constructed by members of the domestic terrorist group Weather Underground. Merrill memorialized the event in his poem “18 West 11th Street.”
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