F.D. Reeve
Encyclopedia
Franklin D'Olier Reeve is an academic, writer, poet, Russian
translator, and editor. He is also the father of late actor Christopher Reeve
. He was the grandson of the first American Legion
national commander, Franklin D'Olier
.
(1950) and Columbia University
(1958), and in 1961 was one of the first exchanges between the American Council of Learned Societies and the USSR Academy of Sciences.
In the late summer of 1962 he accompanied Robert Frost
to Russia
for his meeting with Nikita Khrushchev
, where Reeve served as Frost's translator. After teaching at Columbia, Reeve moved to Wesleyan University
, where he taught English and Russian literature for forty years, sometimes visiting at Oxford University, Yale
, and Columbia before retiring in 2002.
He lives in Wilmington, Vermont
with his wife the novelist Laura Stevenson. Reeve was an officer of the Poetry Society of America
, the founding editor of "Poetry Review," the secretary of Poets House
in its formative years, and is now associated with the New England Poetry Club and the New York Quarterly
. He has published three dozen books of poetry, fiction, criticism, and translation.
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
translator, and editor. He is also the father of late actor Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve
Christopher D'Olier Reeve was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author and activist...
. He was the grandson of the first American Legion
American Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
national commander, Franklin D'Olier
Franklin D'Olier
Franklin D'Olier was the first national commander of the American Legion and served in that capacity from 1919 to 1921. Like all of the original American Legion membership, D'Olier was a veteran of The Great War. D'Olier was also a prominent businessman and the great-grandfather of actor...
.
Life
Born in Philadelphia but brought up outside New York City, Reeve worked in the wheat fields for a while during college and, after graduation, was a Hudson River longshoreman for a while. He graduated from Princeton UniversityPrinceton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
(1950) and Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
(1958), and in 1961 was one of the first exchanges between the American Council of Learned Societies and the USSR Academy of Sciences.
In the late summer of 1962 he accompanied Robert Frost
Robert Frost
Robert Lee Frost was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and...
to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
for his meeting with Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
, where Reeve served as Frost's translator. After teaching at Columbia, Reeve moved to Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
, where he taught English and Russian literature for forty years, sometimes visiting at Oxford University, Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, and Columbia before retiring in 2002.
He lives in Wilmington, Vermont
Wilmington, Vermont
Wilmington is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,225 at the 2000 census.-History:The town was chartered in 1751 by Benning Wentworth, colonial governor of New Hampshire. It was named in honor of Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington...
with his wife the novelist Laura Stevenson. Reeve was an officer of the Poetry Society of America
Poetry Society of America
The Poetry Society of America is a literary organization founded in 1910 by poets, editors, and artists including Witter Bynner. It is the oldest poetry organization in the United States. Past members of the have included such renowned writers as Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Edna St. Vincent...
, the founding editor of "Poetry Review," the secretary of Poets House
Poets House
Founded in 1985 by the late Stanley Kunitz, two-time poet laureate of the United States, and arts administrator Elizabeth Kray, Poets House is a national literary center and poetry library based in New York City. With more than 50,000 volumes of poetry, the library is the premier independent poetry...
in its formative years, and is now associated with the New England Poetry Club and the New York Quarterly
New York Quarterly
The New York Quarterly is a popular contemporary American poetry magazine. Established by William M. Packard in 1969, Rolling Stone Magazine has called the NYQ "the most important poetry magazine in America."- History :...
. He has published three dozen books of poetry, fiction, criticism, and translation.
Awards
- New England Poetry Club's Golden Rose AwardGolden Rose AwardThe Golden Rose Award, one of America’s oldest literary prizes, was inaugurated in 1919.The rose was modeled after the Gold Rose which is now in the Cluny Museum in Paris. The awards the Rose annually for American poetry.-List of winners:...
- award in literature from the American Academy National Institute of Arts and Letters
- Lit.D. from New England College
Poetry
- ""In the Silent Stones"" NY: William Morrow, 1968
- ""The Blue Cat"" NY: Farrar,Straus & Giroux, 1972
- Nightway The Press at Colorado College, limited edition, 1987
- Concrete Music Amherst,MA: Pyncheon House,1992, isbn=9781881119562
- ""The Moon and Other Failures"" Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1999 isbn=9780870135149
- ""The Urban Stampede and Other Poems"" Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2001 isbn-870135945
- ""A World You Haven't Seen: Selected Poems"" NY: Rattapallax Press, 2002 isbn=9781892494481
- ""The Return of the Blue Cat NY:Other Press, 2005 isbn=9781590511725
- ""The Toy Soldier"" Calgary: Bayeux Arts, 2007 isbn=9781896209777
- ""The Blue Cat Walks the Earth"" Washington, DC: Azul Editions, 2007 isbn 139781885214461
- ""The Blue Cat Walks the Earth"" Middlesbrough: Smokestack Books, 2009 isbn9780956034106