Hy Sobiloff, whose poetry was respected by many of his better-known contemporaries for its fresh, honest, unpretentious qualities, was also widely known as a filmmaker, industrialist, and philanthropist. Despite his other activities, Sobiloff was more than a part-time poet. He was constantly writing and associating with other poets. Introductions to his books were written by highly regarded figures: Anatole Broyard, Conrad Aiken, Allen Tate, James Wright, and Edwin Honig. He contributed to Poetry and was represented in a number of anthologies, including Oscar Williams's The New Pocket Anthology of American Verse from Colonial Days to the Present (1955).

Born Hyman Jordan Sobiloff, the son of Israel and Fannie Gollub Sobiloff, he grew up with an older brother, Myer, and two sisters, Sara and Ruth, in Fall River, Massachusetts. He was plagued by allergies, an affliction occasionally mentioned in his poems and one of the factors which influenced his completing...