27 Facts About Stanley Kunitz

Stanley Kunitz was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress twice, first in 1974 and then again in 2000.

Stanley Kunitz's mother removed every trace of Kunitz's father from the household.

Mark Dine died when Stanley Kunitz was fourteen, when, while hanging curtains, he suffered a heart attack.

At fifteen, Stanley Kunitz moved out of the house and became a butcher's assistant.

Stanley Kunitz wanted to continue his studies for a doctorate degree, but was told by the university that the Anglo-Saxon students would not like to be taught by a Jew.

Stanley Kunitz then founded and edited Wilson Library Bulletin and started the Author Biographical Studies.

Stanley Kunitz married Helen Pearce in 1930; they divorced in 1937.

Stanley Kunitz married Eleanor Evans in 1939; they had a daughter Gretchen in 1950.

At Wilson Company, Stanley Kunitz served as co-editor for Twentieth Century Authors, among other reference works.

Stanley Kunitz's poems began to appear in Poetry, Commonweal, The New Republic, The Nation, and The Dial.

Stanley Kunitz refused a commission and was discharged with the rank of staff sergeant.

Stanley Kunitz's poetry won wide praise for its profundity and quality.

Stanley Kunitz was the New York State Poet Laureate from 1987 to 1989.

Stanley Kunitz continued to write and publish until his centenary year, as late as 2005.

Stanley Kunitz influenced many 20th-century poets, including James Wright, Mark Doty, Louise Gluck, Joan Hutton Landis, and Carolyn Kizer.

For most of his life, Stanley Kunitz divided his time between New York City and Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Stanley Kunitz enjoyed gardening and maintained one of the most impressive seaside gardens in Provincetown.

Stanley Kunitz was awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience award in Sherborn, Massachusetts in October 1998 for his contribution to the liberation of the human spirit through his poetry.

Stanley Kunitz died in 2006 at his home in Manhattan.

Stanley Kunitz had previously come close to death, and reflected on the experience in his last book, a collection of essays, The Wild Braid: A Poet Reflects on a Century in the Garden.

Stanley Kunitz's collection Passing Through: The Later Poems won the National Book Award for Poetry in 1995.

Stanley Kunitz received many other honors, including a National Medal of Arts, the Bollingen Prize for a lifetime achievement in poetry, the Robert Frost Medal, and Harvard's Centennial Medal.

Stanley Kunitz served two terms as Consultant on Poetry for the Library of Congress, one term as Poet Laureate of the United States, and one term as the State Poet of New York.

Stanley Kunitz founded the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and Poets House in New York City.

Stanley Kunitz acted as a judge for the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition.

Stanley Kunitz served as editor of the Wilson Library Bulletin from 1928 to 1943.

Stanley Kunitz published an article in 1938 by Bernard Berelson entitled "The Myth of Library Impartiality".