J.D. “Sandy” McClatchy, the acclaimed poet at literary critic, died April 10 at his home in Manhattan following a long battle with cancer. He was 72.
McClatchy was the author of eight highly praised volumes of poetry, including Hazmat, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His most recent, Plundered Hearts: New and Selected Poems, was published in 2014.
He was also the author of several collections of essays, and the editor or co-editor of some dozens of volumes, including works by James Merrill, Thornton Wilder and Edna St. Vincent Millay; and he was a significant translator of opera libretti, from The Magic Flute to Miss Lonelyhearts.
McClatchy was a longtime editor of the Yale Review and served as president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In addition, he was the literary executor for the poets Anthony Hecht and Mona Van Duyn and co-executor for James Merrill.
He is survived by his husband, Chip Kidd, associate director of cover art at Knopf, as well as three sisters: Edith Pahl, Joan Brennan and Elizabeth Davis.