Brendan James Galvin was a gifted poet, professor, and a devoted husband.
He was an ardent lover of Cape Cod's natural landscapes with bird imagery being an essential theme through much of his writing. Another significant subject within his work was Ireland, his ancestral home. Brendan especially prized being immersed in the habitat surrounding his home in Truro, MA, which he built with his wife Ellen in 1968. He lived there overlooking the Pamet River with his family and border collies, and then independently, until his death at the age of 84 on August 17th, 2023.
Born in Everett, MA, in 1938, Brendan Galvin attended Malden Catholic High School and received a BS from Boston College in 1960. He went on to study literature, earning an MA from Northeastern University in 1964. He completed an MFA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1967, followed by a PhD in 1970. He joined the English Department at Central Connecticut State University in 1969, taking up residence in Durham, CT, during the school year. It was from there that he also retired.
His first collection of poems, The Salt Farm (Fiddlehead Books), was published in 1972 and his twentieth book, In Plenty's Woods, which he had just completed prior to his passing, will be published posthumously. His poems appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, Harper's Magazine, and Kenyon Review. Throughout his career Galvin received many awards and accolades including the Iowa Poetry Prize, the O.B. Hardison, Jr. Poetry Prize from the Folger Shakespeare Library, Sotheby Prize of the Arvon Foundation, the Charity Randall Citation from the International Poetry Forum, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. He was honored in 2009 with the Boston College Alumni Arts Award. He was also a finalist for the National Book Award and shortlisted for a Pulitzer Prize.
Brendan is predeceased by his wife Ellen (Baer) and his sister Eileen Galvin. He is survived by his daughter Anne (Harold Butler) and son Peter (Carla Rissmeyer), his brothers Kevin (Sandy), Terry (Donna), and Bill Galvin (Diane), and his grandchildren Gwen, Owen, and Maddie Galvin.
The family wishes to express our gratitude to the personnel at Truro Council on Aging and the Truro Police Department's Reassurance Program and, especially, to his caregiver and friend Sharon Ballentine for enabling him to remain independent, living in the place he loved.
Visiting hours will be held at 10 AM until 1130am with a service immediately after, on Wednesday, August 23rd, 2023, at Chapman Funeral Home, 678 Main Street Ext. Harwich MA 02645, followed by burial at Methodist Cemetery in Truro.
He was an ardent lover of Cape Cod's natural landscapes with bird imagery being an essential theme through much of his writing. Another significant subject within his work was Ireland, his ancestral home. Brendan especially prized being immersed in the habitat surrounding his home in Truro, MA, which he built with his wife Ellen in 1968. He lived there overlooking the Pamet River with his family and border collies, and then independently, until his death at the age of 84 on August 17th, 2023.
Born in Everett, MA, in 1938, Brendan Galvin attended Malden Catholic High School and received a BS from Boston College in 1960. He went on to study literature, earning an MA from Northeastern University in 1964. He completed an MFA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1967, followed by a PhD in 1970. He joined the English Department at Central Connecticut State University in 1969, taking up residence in Durham, CT, during the school year. It was from there that he also retired.
His first collection of poems, The Salt Farm (Fiddlehead Books), was published in 1972 and his twentieth book, In Plenty's Woods, which he had just completed prior to his passing, will be published posthumously. His poems appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, Harper's Magazine, and Kenyon Review. Throughout his career Galvin received many awards and accolades including the Iowa Poetry Prize, the O.B. Hardison, Jr. Poetry Prize from the Folger Shakespeare Library, Sotheby Prize of the Arvon Foundation, the Charity Randall Citation from the International Poetry Forum, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. He was honored in 2009 with the Boston College Alumni Arts Award. He was also a finalist for the National Book Award and shortlisted for a Pulitzer Prize.
Brendan is predeceased by his wife Ellen (Baer) and his sister Eileen Galvin. He is survived by his daughter Anne (Harold Butler) and son Peter (Carla Rissmeyer), his brothers Kevin (Sandy), Terry (Donna), and Bill Galvin (Diane), and his grandchildren Gwen, Owen, and Maddie Galvin.
The family wishes to express our gratitude to the personnel at Truro Council on Aging and the Truro Police Department's Reassurance Program and, especially, to his caregiver and friend Sharon Ballentine for enabling him to remain independent, living in the place he loved.
Visiting hours will be held at 10 AM until 1130am with a service immediately after, on Wednesday, August 23rd, 2023, at Chapman Funeral Home, 678 Main Street Ext. Harwich MA 02645, followed by burial at Methodist Cemetery in Truro.
Brendan James Galvin was a gifted poet, professor, and a devoted husband.
He was an ardent lover of Cape Cod's natural landscapes with bird imagery being an essential theme through much of his writing. Another significant subject within his work was Ireland, his ancestral home. Brendan especially prized being immersed in the habitat surrounding his home in Truro, MA, which he built with his wife Ellen in 1968. He lived there overlooking the Pamet River with his family and border collies, and then independently, until his death at the age of 84 on August 17th, 2023.
Born in Everett, MA, in 1938, Brendan Galvin attended Malden Catholic High School and received a BS from Boston College in 1960. He went on to study literature, earning an MA from Northeastern University in 1964. He completed an MFA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1967, followed by a PhD in 1970. He joined the English Department at Central Connecticut State University in 1969, taking up residence in Durham, CT, during the school year. It was from there that he also retired.
His first collection of poems, The Salt Farm (Fiddlehead Books), was published in 1972 and his twentieth book, In Plenty's Woods, which he had just completed prior to his passing, will be published posthumously. His poems appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, Harper's Magazine, and Kenyon Review. Throughout his career Galvin received many awards and accolades including the Iowa Poetry Prize, the O.B. Hardison, Jr. Poetry Prize from the Folger Shakespeare Library, Sotheby Prize of the Arvon Foundation, the Charity Randall Citation from the International Poetry Forum, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. He was honored in 2009 with the Boston College Alumni Arts Award. He was also a finalist for the National Book Award and shortlisted for a Pulitzer Prize.
Brendan is predeceased by his wife Ellen (Baer) and his sister Eileen Galvin. He is survived by his daughter Anne (Harold Butler) and son Peter (Carla Rissmeyer), his brothers Kevin (Sandy), Terry (Donna), and Bill Galvin (Diane), and his grandchildren Gwen, Owen, and Maddie Galvin.
The family wishes to express our gratitude to the personnel at Truro Council on Aging and the Truro Police Department's Reassurance Program and, especially, to his caregiver and friend Sharon Ballentine for enabling him to remain independent, living in the place he loved.
Visiting hours will be held at 10 AM until 1130am with a service immediately after, on Wednesday, August 23rd, 2023, at Chapman Funeral Home, 678 Main Street Ext. Harwich MA 02645, followed by burial at Methodist Cemetery in Truro.
He was an ardent lover of Cape Cod's natural landscapes with bird imagery being an essential theme through much of his writing. Another significant subject within his work was Ireland, his ancestral home. Brendan especially prized being immersed in the habitat surrounding his home in Truro, MA, which he built with his wife Ellen in 1968. He lived there overlooking the Pamet River with his family and border collies, and then independently, until his death at the age of 84 on August 17th, 2023.
Born in Everett, MA, in 1938, Brendan Galvin attended Malden Catholic High School and received a BS from Boston College in 1960. He went on to study literature, earning an MA from Northeastern University in 1964. He completed an MFA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1967, followed by a PhD in 1970. He joined the English Department at Central Connecticut State University in 1969, taking up residence in Durham, CT, during the school year. It was from there that he also retired.
His first collection of poems, The Salt Farm (Fiddlehead Books), was published in 1972 and his twentieth book, In Plenty's Woods, which he had just completed prior to his passing, will be published posthumously. His poems appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, Harper's Magazine, and Kenyon Review. Throughout his career Galvin received many awards and accolades including the Iowa Poetry Prize, the O.B. Hardison, Jr. Poetry Prize from the Folger Shakespeare Library, Sotheby Prize of the Arvon Foundation, the Charity Randall Citation from the International Poetry Forum, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. He was honored in 2009 with the Boston College Alumni Arts Award. He was also a finalist for the National Book Award and shortlisted for a Pulitzer Prize.
Brendan is predeceased by his wife Ellen (Baer) and his sister Eileen Galvin. He is survived by his daughter Anne (Harold Butler) and son Peter (Carla Rissmeyer), his brothers Kevin (Sandy), Terry (Donna), and Bill Galvin (Diane), and his grandchildren Gwen, Owen, and Maddie Galvin.
The family wishes to express our gratitude to the personnel at Truro Council on Aging and the Truro Police Department's Reassurance Program and, especially, to his caregiver and friend Sharon Ballentine for enabling him to remain independent, living in the place he loved.
Visiting hours will be held at 10 AM until 1130am with a service immediately after, on Wednesday, August 23rd, 2023, at Chapman Funeral Home, 678 Main Street Ext. Harwich MA 02645, followed by burial at Methodist Cemetery in Truro.
Family Members
Spouse
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
