An April 1981 Life magazine feature on eleven poets, with photographs by Annie Leibowitz, pictured William Logan lying on a sleeping bag in a sparsely furnished apartment. The accompanying text proclaimed that, although "early in college, Logan's love was rock 'n' roll," he was pursuing "more literary" interests; he is quoted as saying, "I was thrilled by The Waste Land." Of a piece with the fashion magazine mentality of the spread (with a barechested Robert Penn Warren and with Tess Gallagher shown as Lady Godiva on horseback), there is little in the photograph or text that suggests the erudite formality of Logan's poetry.

Born in Boston to William Donald Logan, Jr. (a salesman with Alcoa, and later the general manager of Allan Marine, the director of gas marketing at Con Edison, and a real-estate broker), and Nancy Damon Logan (also a real-estate broker), the young Logan was raised in...