Mark Strand (1934-2014) was born in Canada and rasied in a secular Jewish family. He spent most of his youth in South and Central America before moving to America to complete his education, getting his diploma at Oakwood Friends School in 1951 and B.A. in Antioch College in 1957. He studied painting at Yale University, earning a B.F.A. in 1959 and M.A. in creative writing at the University of Iowa. Noted for his illustrious career as a poet, Strand was elected in 1981 a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters and served as U.S. Poet Laureate during 1990-1991. He has taught at many universities both as a full-time and visiting professor, most notably University of Utah, Johns Hopkins University, University of Chicago, and Columbia University (which he remained at until his death in 2014).