Marie Bullock

Marie Bullock (1911 – December 25, 1986) was an American nonprofit leader, known for founding the Academy of American Poets and serving as its president for almost fifty years.

Early life and education Marie Leontine Graves was born in Paris, France in 1911 to American parents. Her mother was a singer, while her father was a banker. Although her father was half French and half Irish, he didn't learn to speak French as well as her mother did. Her father taught her how to drive a car and shared financial advice, as well as the trait of methodical task completion to ensure they would be done right. Graves loved poetry from a young age. She attended graduate studies at the Sorbonne. Soon after moving to the U.S., she took classes on economics and poetry at Columbia University. She recalled that during her course on poetry with Joseph Auslander at Columbia, an esteemed poet's visit had to be cancelled because he couldn't get the day off from work as a soda jerker. Bullock contrasted this with how her family had respected musicians and other artists during her childhood. She felt inspired to change how the U.S. supported a culture of poetry, and began speaking with poets and businessmen to try to design an effective support system for poets. She wanted to help them achieve more financial stability and cultural success. She wanted the foundation to last for a long time and nurture personal connections over a wide geographic area, so she decided that establishing it as a membership corporation would help it achieve both goals. She organized it so that separately from the donating members, the foundation had 12 chancellors who controlled the group's artistic decisions. The chancellors worked independently and elected other poets to serve as chancellors as they left their posts. One of her early speeches occurred in Chautauqua, New York in the summer of 1937. In 1939, Bullock became the president of the academy she had founded, a post she held until her death in 1986.

In 1983, Bullock presided over a year of events commemorating the foundation's 50th anniversary. These included a reception for several hundred poets at the Gracie Mansion, hosted by Mayor Ed Koch and sponsored by the City of New York. The foundation and the New York Institute of the Humanities held a week of tribute events for W. H. Auden that year. The Library of Congress also created a two-day poetry festival in Washington D.C., and the New York Public Library created an exhibition to honor the foundation.

Personal life and death Bullock and her husband Hugh had two daughters, Fleur and Fair Alice. Her funeral was held at Saint Thomas Church in Manhattan. Other poets have reportedly called Bullock the "Joan of Arc of American Poetry." Poet Anthony Hecht wrote in her tribute that Bullock "was a gallant, devoted, and generous champion of a cause that had few champions before her, and none so successful. American poets and their readers are all in her debt."

Awards and honors In 1948, Bullock received the King's Medal for service in the cause of freedom.

In 1961, she earned the Gold Medal from the National Institute of Social Sciences. In 1963, the National Institute of Arts and Letters gave her the Distinguished Service to the Arts award.

In 1975, Bullock was made Dame of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.

In 1982, Bullock received a Mayor's Award of Honor for Arts and Culture. Bullock was named Honorary Chairman of the American Poets' Corner in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City during the 1980s.

Williams College awarded Bullock an honorary doctorate of humane letters.