In Memoriam: Jane Whitaker Mead, 1958-2019

Jane Mead, an accomplished poet and educator, died at her home in Napa, California, on September 8. She was 61 years old and had suffered from endometrial cancer.

A native of Baltimore, Mead was a graduate of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. She earned a master’s degree at Syracuse University in New York and a master of fine arts degree at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop.

Mead was the author of five collections of poetry including World of Made and Unmade (Alice James Books, 2016), which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the Griffin Poetry Prize. An earlier collection Money Money Money Water Water Water (Alice James Books, 2014) contained poems relating to environmental issues.

For many years Mead served as poet-in-residence at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Over a long career as an educator, Mead taught at many colleges and universities including Colby College in Maine, Drew University in New Jersey, the University of Iowa, and Washington University in St. Louis.