Born in New York City, Robert Gruntal Nathan was the son of Harold Nathan and Sarah Gruntal Nathan. He was also the lineal descendant of Rabbi Gershom Seixas, one of the founders of King's College (now Columbia University) and an official at George Washington's inauguration, as well as the nephew of both Annie Nathan Meyer, the founder of Barnard College, and Maud Nathan, the founder of the Consumer's League. He attended public school and then the Collegiate School in New York City before going on to the Ethical Culture School in Geneva, Switzerland, and Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. While at Phillips Exeter Academy, he started to write poetry and was an editor of the school literary magazine. Upon graduating from Phillips Exeter in 1912, he entered Harvard University where he continued to write and became editor of the Harvard Monthly. While he was working on the Monthly...