Grave of Frank O'Hara (Green River Cemetery)

Though a native of Massachusetts, poet Frank O’Hara lived much of his life between Greenwich Village and Fire Island. As a young man, his original inclination was toward music and he studied piano at the New England Conservatory in Boston. After serving in World War II, he went to Harvard on the GI Bill and began studying English. It was also during his time at Harvard that he began publishing poems.

After completing graduate work at the University of Michigan, O’Hara moved to Greenwich Village. He taught at the New School and took a side job selling postcards at the Museum of Modern Art. From there, he was able to work his way up and eventually became an assistant curator. His work at the MoMA introduced him to many of the most influential painters of the mid-twentieth century, including Jackson Pollack and Willem de Kooning. Possessed of a warm and sociable personality, O’Hara had a vast circle of friends, many of whom were in the arts, and he often collaborated with friends on projects that combined poetry and visual arts.

O’Hara, who was openly gay, spent several years on Fire Island, which was known for being a welcoming and tolerant place for both artists and homosexuals. From at least the mid-1950s until his death in 1966, O’Hara lived and wrote on Fire Island, which was also home to a vibrant arts community, including Jackson Pollack and Truman Capote. Its relative isolation and progressive, bohemian character made the island an ideal home for O'Hara.

It was also on Fire Island that O’Hara met his untimely death. On the early morning of July 24, 1966, O’Hara had been out at a nightclub with friends and hailed a beach taxi to get home. The taxi broke down, however, shortly after picking up O’Hara and his friends and while waiting on the dark beach for a replacement taxi to come, O’Hara walked toward the water. As he turned away from the broken-down taxi, he stepped in front of a moving jeep and was hit. Despite of being seriously injured, O’Hara seemed to be improving but died the following day of a ruptured liver. He was buried in Green River Cemetery on Long Island. He is buried just a short distance from his friend Jackson Pollack.

Cohen, Alina . The Ongoing Influence of Frank O'Hara, the Art World's Favorite Poet , Artsy. April 3rd 2018. Accessed March 10th 2021. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-ongoing-influence-frank-ohara-art-worlds-favorite-poet.

Bonanno, Bobby . Art History--Frank O'Hara , Fire Island Pines Historical Preservation Society . October 5th 2017. Accessed March 10th 2021. http://www.pineshistory.org/celebrity-history-frank-ohara/.