Robert Bly Cause of Death Tragic: Famed Poet, 'Iron John' Author Was 94
Robert Bly, a famed poet and author, popularly known for his books like "Iron John," "The Light Around The Body," "The Sibling Society," and more, has passed away at the age of 94.
According to the Associated Press, as reported by NBC Chicago, the writer died at his home in Minneapolis. His daughter Mary confirmed his death, saying he suffered from dementia for the past 14 years.
Mary said his father had "no pain", and their whole family surrounded him, so "how much better can you do?"
The author, who worked for more than 50 years of his life, started his career by publishing his first book of poems titled "Silence in the Snowy Fields."
His book about the Vietnam War protest "The Light Around the Body" snagged the coveted National Book Award in 1968. He won $1000 where he later donated to the draft resistance movie.
The author's most famous yet controversial book was "Iron John: A Book About Men." Released in 1990, his work spent more than two years on the New York Times Bestseller List.
However, despite the popularity, it received criticisms, especially from feminists, as they ridiculed him for the new men's movement.
Bly clarified in a 2000 interview that "men's seminars" are not a threat to the women's movement, and many readers "missed the point."
Born in 1926, his love for writing started in high school, where he wrote his first poem to impress an English teacher.
He later spent a short amount of time in the Navy before studying at Harvard in 1947. He became classmates with some of the most significant writers of his generation, like the late Adrienne Rich, a prominent feminist poet.
Bly later moved to New York City, where life wasn't easy for him as he sometimes slept at the Grand Central Station when places of his friends were unavailable. He later spent his time at the Iowa Writer's Workshop but returned to Minnesota, where he lived.
Aside from being a writer and a poet, Bly was also a translator. He got help from native speakers, and he translated numerous poems in different languages.
Two of his translated works for famed authors like Pablo Neruda of Chile and Tomas Transtormer of Sweden won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
His agent George Borchardt recalled one of his works in New York City, saying he was "not the kind of author who needed guidance in his writing."
