Alan Dugan was born in Brooklyn, New York; he grew up there and in Jamaica, Queens, attending elementary and high school in both boroughs. After starting undergraduate work in 1941 at Queens College in New York, he was drafted into the army two years before completing his degree. Three years later he returned to college on the GI Bill, this time attending Olivet College in Michigan for a time, and then transferring to Mexico City College, Mexico, where he received his B.A. degree in 1949. He continued his formal education with one year of graduate study at the latter institution. During the next ten years Dugan spent most of his time in New York City, writing poetry while he worked at numerous jobs, none with literary or academic connections; for instance, he worked as a caster in a medical supply house, failed with a commercial press venture, and even...