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"Amherst Bard wins Holyoke Poet Award" from THE JEFF "Amherst Bard wins Holyoke Poet Award" from THE JEFF. Merrill won the prestigious Glascock Poetry Prize for "The Broken Bowl," "The Formal Lovers" and "The Black Swan," all written in Kimon Friar's class. This win was a harbinger of many awards to come.
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Newspaper clippings related to Charles Merrill's and Hellen Ingram Merrill's divorce Newspaper clippings related to Charles Merrill's and Hellen Ingram Merrill's divorce. The "broken home" had a profound effect on James Merrill remembering his childhood as a lonely one.
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"Among the Cottagers at Southampton" "Among the Cottagers at Southampton," an article including a photo of and caption on "Master Jimmie Merrill." Merrill most often pictured Southampton and "the Orchard" when he thought of "home."
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Painting of a bust of James Merrill as a child on the rooftop terrace of Athinaion Efivon 44 by David Jackson Painting of a bust of James Merrill as a child on the rooftop terrace of Athinaion Efivon 44 house in Athens, Greece, by David Jackson.
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Drawing of Athinaion Efivon 44 by David Jackson Drawing of Athinaion Efivon 44 (James Merrill's and David Jackson's house in Athens, Greece for 15 years) by David Jackson. This illustration was sent to friends as a Christmas card in 1964.
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Drawing of 107 Water Street Printed copy of a drawing of 107 Water Street in Stonington by David Jackson.
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Telegram from Charles Merrill to James Merrill Telegram from Charles Merrill to James Merrill, taken from "The Immortal Husband" scrapbook in the James Merrill Papers. The telegram includes advice on how to take failure if the play is not "a hit."
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Supplementary Report for James Merrill Supplementary Report for James Merrill from Southampton Country School, one of a number of schools he attended due to the Merrills moving between houses seasonally.
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James Merrill and David Jackson at the Ouija board James Merrill and David Jackson at Ouija board in Stonington. The photo was taken by Harry Pemberton, who took a roll of the mediums in action.
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Shirley Baker, Helen Vendler, and James Merrill Shirley Baker, Helen Vendler, and James Merrill at "James Merrill: A Life in Writing" symposium at Washington University, Nov. 18-19, 1994. Vendler is an esteemed professor and poetry critic who had been championing Merrill's work at least since 1972. The symposium was organized by Holly Hall, Head of Special Collections at Washington University, and included speakers such as Rachel Hadas, Richard Kenney, Stephen Yenser, and Vendler.
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Jim Boatwright Jim Boatwright, a.k.a. "the Colonel," was a professor at Washington and Lee University and editor of the literary magazine Shenandoah. Merrill had gotten to know Boatwright in Athens, although he also lived in Key West. Like Merrill, Boatwright died of AIDS.
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Richard & Charlee Wilbur Richard & Charlee Wilbur, Merrill's Key West neighbors. Richard Wilbur was a fellow Amherst grad and accomplished poet, as well as a longtime friend and supporter of Merrill's work. Charlee Wilbur played matchmaker with Merrill and Peter Hooten. Richard celebrated his birthday with Merrill (March 1 and 3 respectively) for a decade by "trading deftly rhymed gift cards."
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Hooten, Merrill, and Yenser Hooten, Merrill, Yenser in a photo capturing a happy moment between the three.
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J. D. McClatchy J. D. McClatchy, an admirer and then good friend of James Merrill's, is an accomplished poet and librettist, professor and critic. He went on to become Merrill's co-literary executor, along with Stephen Yenser.
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Maya Deren Maya Deren in a still from her film Meshes of the Afternoon (1943). A Ukrainian immigrant, scholar of French Symbolism, progressive activist, avant-garde filmmaker and dancer, "Deren introduced Merrill to spirit possession not as a metaphor, but as a relation to the divine that an artist could directly experience."
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Tony Harwood and James Merrill James Merrill with Tony Harwood, one of Merrill's first friends at Lawrenceville. The two remained friends, although their friendship became strained as Tony "grew progressively more detached and paranoid."
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Mona Van Duyn Mona Van Duyn: fellow prize-winning poet, early champion and good friend of James Merrill, she successfully solicited Merrill's literary papers for Washington University. In this photo she is standing in front of a painting of herself.
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Stephen Yenser Stephen Yenser, Merrill's student, friend, correspondent, literary executor, and "ideal reader."
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Tony Parigory and James Merrill Tony Parigory and James Merrill. "Tall, smiling, Alexandrian Tony...In his worldly wisdom, off-color jokes, and macaronic bons mots...he resembled none of Merrill's friends so much as Ephraim, the Familiar Spirit."
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David McIntosh David McIntosh, a disciplined, reserved painter of abstract landscapes who drew a "'firm and gentle line' between love and friendship, and what he wanted was the latter."
