Galway died Oct. 28, 2014, at his home in Sheffield, Vt. He was a renowned and prolific Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and an essayist, translator, and teacher.
Born in Pawtucket, R.I., in 1927, he attended Wilbraham Academy and entered Princeton in the summer of 1944. After Navy service, Galway returned to college to room and work in the dining halls with W.S. (“Bill”) Merwin (who was also to become a preeminent poet and Pulitzer Prize winner) and other ’48 waiters, including Ted Taubeneck and Dick Unsworth.
After graduating with highest honors, Galway earned a master’s degree at the University of Rochester. He then held faculty positions at the University of Chicago and elsewhere before receiving a lifetime appointment at New York University. Many consider one of his greatest poems to be “When the Towers Fell,” a memorial to those lost in 9/11. He was a passionate activist in environmental and civil-rights causes.
He is survived by Barbara; son Fergus; daughter Maud Kozodoy ’88; and two grandchildren.