PacifistDuring the 1960s, Robert Lowell, having embraced pacifism, refused to serve his country in Vietnam. For this refusal, he was sentenced instead to serve five months in prison.
While waiting for a transfer to a facility in Connecticut, Lowell spent several days in New York's West Street Jail, where he was housed in a cell adjacent to Louie Lepke, a notorious member of Murder Incorporated.
"I'm in for killing," Lepke told the poet one day. "What are you in for?" "Oh," Lowell replied, "I'm in for refusing to kill."
[Trivia: Percentage of U.S. college students who said they would try to evade the draft if one were called in 2002? 37]
Lowell, Robert (1917-1977) American poet [noted for such
works as
Voice of the Poet, Imitations,Day by Day, and his "confessional" Life Studies(1959)]
[Sources: I. Hamilton, Robert Lowell; Harpers, Sept. 2002]More Robert Lowell anecdotesRelated Anecdote Keywords:
Refusals Vietnam War Crime Prisoners Prisons Imprisonment Pacifism Conscription Irony Peace
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