Richard Frost

Born in Redwood City, California in 1929, Richard Frost (he/him) is the author of the collections The Circus Villains (Ohio University Press, 1965); Getting Drunk with the Birds (Ohio University Press, 1971); Neighbor Blood (Sarabande Books, 1996); and Mephisto’s Flea Song and Other Poems (Marick Press, 2014). He also wrote the long poem Jazz for Kirby (State Street Press, 1990), illustrated by Donald Justice, and the chapbook The Family Way (Devil's Millhopper Press, 1993).

As a teenager, Frost began working as a jazz drummer and played gigs in and around San Francisco. With an MA from San Jose State University, he moved east to teach literature at Towson State University for two years. In 1959, he accepted a position at the State University College in Oneonta, New York, where he remained for 49 years. During his years teaching, Frost published poems in journals including Poetry, Harper’s, Gettysburg Review, TheParis Review, The Kenyon Review, and TriQuarterly. He continued playing the drums in combos and bands in Baltimore, central New York—where he founded the jazz band The Catskill Stompers in 1974—and Germany, as well as after retirement in Cedar Key, Florida.

Richard Frost was married for 54 years to poet Carol Frost.