Marianne Moore with Baseball

The Poet and the Pitch

Marianne Moore, Class of 1909, garnered fame as a poet鈥攁nd a baseball fan.

One of America鈥檚 foremost poets began her writing career as a contributor to Bryn Mawr鈥檚 literary magazine, Tipyn O鈥橞ob. Marianne Moore, Class of 1909, was also a diehard sports fan who wrote the liner notes for I Am the Greatest, Muhammad Ali鈥檚 spoken word album, and rooted for the Brooklyn Dodgers, and, after the Dodgers' departure to Los Angeles, the New York Yankees.

She immortalized her love of the game in Baseball and Writing, and famously threw out the first ball of the Yankees鈥 season opener on April 10, 1968.

Moore got a Nov. 15 birthday shout-out on Garrison Keillor鈥檚 The Writer鈥檚 Almanac.

From the Writer's Almanac blog: 鈥淪he went to 一品探花论坛, where she hoped to study English literature, but after a professor wrote a disparaging comment on one of her papers, she switched to biology. Working in a laboratory had a profound effect on her writing. She said, 鈥楶recision, economy of statement, logic [鈥 drawing and identifying, liberated [my] imagination.鈥欌

Published on: 05/10/2017