James Merrill was an acclaimed American poet whose work is known for its wit, elegance, and formal control. He was the son of Charles E. Merrill, the co-founder of the Merrill Lynch investment firm, which provided him financial independence to pursue his literary career. Over his lifetime, he received nearly every major American literary award for poetry, including the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1977 for Divine Comedies. His later work, notably the epic poem The Changing Light at Sandover, incorporated occult themes and messages supposedly received through a Ouija board, cementing his unique place in 20th-century literature.