ABOUT ROBERT FROST Born in San Francisco, California, Robert Frost (1874-1963) was an American poet much admired for his depictions of rural life in New England, his command of American colloquial speech, and his realistic verse portraying ordinary people in everyday situations. An American literary icon who launched his career in England, Robert Frost created the role of poet in residence and taught at Amherst College, the University of Michigan, Harvard, and Dartmouth universities. As the nation’s first inaugural poet, he read “The Gift Outright” at President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration, and, later in life, he served as a cultural ambassador to the Soviet Union, Brazil, and Israel. He is the only American poet to have won the Pulitzer Prize in poetry four times.