Rod McKuen

Rodney Marvin McKuen ( ; ; April 29, 1933 – January 29, 2015) was an American poet, singer-songwriter and composer. He was one of the best-selling poets in the United States during the late 1960s. Throughout his career, McKuen produced a wide range of recordings, which included popular music, spoken word poetry, film soundtracks and classical music. He earned two Academy Award nominations for his music compositions. McKuen’s translations and adaptations of the songs of Jacques Brel were instrumental in bringing the Belgian songwriter to prominence in the English-speaking world. His poetry deals with themes of love, the natural world and spirituality. McKuen’s songs sold over 100 million recordings worldwide and 60 million books of his poetry were sold as well. on April 29, 1933, in a Salvation Army hostel in Oakland, California According to critic Betty Jean Lifton in The New York Times, McKuen had “two birth certificates, each giving conflicting dates and spelling his father’s name different ways.” He never knew his biological father, who had left his mother. raised by his mother and stepfather, who was a violent alcoholic, McKuen ran away from home. He drifted along the West Coas