John Frederick Nims was born in Muskegon, Michigan. He married Bonnie Larkin, also a writer, in 1947. Five children were born to them, but one died when very young. Nims attended DePaul University in Chicago and graduated from Notre Dame University in 1937 with majors in English and Latin. He returned to Notre Dame for his M.A. in English and, after receiving it in 1939, began work as an instructor there while also undertaking further graduate work at the University of Chicago in comparative literature. Since receiving his Ph.D. in 1945, he has taught at a number of universities both in this country and abroad. He is currently teaching at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, where he can be near the office of Poetry magazine, of which he became editor in January 1978. His honors include a variety of prizes and grants, and he has been on the staffs...