Frank O'Hara was a leading member of the so-called New York School of poets, a group that included John Ashbery, Barbara Guest, Kenneth Koch, and James Schuyler and received its name from its association with the leading abstract-expressionist painters in New York City during the 1950s-although O'Hara's personal reputation, following his death in 1966 at forty years old, and the significance of his achievement in that brief time, have extended his recognition beyond that of any group.

He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, but moved at an early age to Grafton, a suburb of Worcester, in central Massachusetts. While growing up, he was a serious music student and wished above all to be a concert pianist. O'Hara writes: "It was a very funny life. I lived in Grafton, took a ride or a bus into Worcester every day to high school, and on Saturdays took a bus and a...