Milestones May 29, 2006

(2 of 2)

DIED. Stanley Kunitz, 100, acclaimed poet whose stark language and metaphysical bent earned him a Pulitzer Prize, a National Book Award and two terms as U.S. poet laureate; in New York City. He produced a dozen books over 75 years, culminating with last year's The Wild Braid, an homage to his lifelong passion of gardening. The longtime Columbia University professor hammered out dense, restrained gems on a manual typewriter, tackling both the personal (his father's suicide) and the universal (life, death, rebirth). "The deepest thing I know is that I am living and dying at once," he said, "and my conviction is to report that self-dialogue."