Jacques Louis Galef ’64

Jack died Dec. 30, 2022, in Hoboken, N.J.

He was born in Westport, Conn., and attended Deerfield Academy before coming to Princeton, where his brother Bennett was a member of the Class of ’62. Little is known of his activities at Old Nassau or thereafter. According to his half-brother Jon, who discussed Jack’s life with other members of the family, he “seemed to want to keep his personal life personal.”

After graduating from Princeton, Jack earned a master of fine arts degree from the University of Iowa’s Writers Workshop. He later taught at the New York School of the Visual Arts and wrote poems that were published in The New Yorker, Esquire, The Paris Review, and other magazines. Here’s a sample of his work, which often took a comic twist: the first six lines from “The Museum of Modern Art Isn’t Hungry,” which appeared in the Fall 1975 issue of The Paris Review:

The Museum of Modern Art isn’t hungry

Each wall is perfection

Leger says hello to Picasso

Matisse defines red and green

The paintings are testaments to an achieved order of delights

There are no hot dogs here

The class extends profound condolences to Jack’s family.