Michael Lally is an American-born poet and the author of twenty-seven books of poetry. He is considered part of the New York School of poetry, which began in the early 1950s and is acknowledged as one of the most influential movements of American poetry. He counts among his major influences the poets Frank O'Hara and William Carlos Williams, as well as writer William Saroyan.

Biography

Early years
The youngest of seven in an Irish-American family of policemen, priests, and politicians Lally was born in Orange, New Jersey and raised in South Orange, New Jersey. His poetry and prose moves through and reflects on many of the seminal shifts in American culture from the 1950s forward: the civil rights, gay rights, women’s rights and anti-war movements and his active participation in each. Master of the autobiographical style, his writing charts the internal emotional landscape of the evolving 20th century man.

Lally started out playing piano and reading his poetry in coffeehouses and bars in 1959. In 1962 he joined the United States Air Force, where he spent more than four years as an enlisted man, and later used the G.I. Bill to attend the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. While living in Iowa Lally’s devotion to political reform extended beyond editorials. In the fall of 1968 he actively campaigned for the position of Johnson County Sheriff as part of the Peace and Freedom Party ticket. (SOURCE: “Students for a Democratic Society” by Harvey Pekar, page 161-170.)


Writing career
In 1972 he wrote the autobiographical “South Orange Sonnets” (Some of Us Press), which on publication led to a New York Poetry Center Discovery Award. (REFERENCES Doug Lang, Terence Winch)


Acting career
He moved from New York to Los Angeles in 1982 to find work acting in movies and TV (as Michael David Lally) [1], mostly as a bad guy (like a psycho detective on JAG), and the occasional good guy (a gentle artist on NYPD Blue), while his writing found its way into several movies including .


Personal life
Lally has been married three times. His first wife Carol Lee Fisher from 1964 to 1979. The second wife was Penelope Milford from 1982 to 1984. He then wed a third time to Jaina Flynn in 1997 before separating in 2003. Lally has three children: Caitlin, Miles and Flynn