William Carlos Williams (1883–1963) was born in Rutherford, New Jersey. After graduating from high school, he began studying to become a dentist, but he soon switched to medicine. In college he met and became friends with Ezra Pound, who would become one of the most influential American literary figures, and Hilda Doolittle, who later achieved fame as the poet and novelist, H. D. These relationships fed his interest in literature and poetry and changed his career plans even as he was completing his medical internship in New York City and doing postgraduate study in Leipzig, Germany.

In 1912, Williams married and settled in Rutherford, where he began his medical practice. Specializing in pediatrics, Williams delivered thousands of babies, made house calls, and gained a reputation as a dedicated, old-fashioned doctor. He lived and practiced medicine in Rutherford for the rest of his life. It was an occupation that supported his poetry and his other writing. He was active in local politics and helped found several small magazines. In the 1930s and 1940s, he occasionally supported leftist causes, which later resulted in his not receiving the post of consultant in poetry at the Library of Congress. A heart attack in 1948 and a series of strokes later caused him to cede his medical practice to one of his two sons, and by 1961 he had stopped writing because of his health. Williams was awarded the National Book Award in 1950, the Bollingen Prize in 1953, and the Pulitzer Prize in 1962 for Pictures from Brueghel, among other honors. His other works include Spring and All (1923), The Edge of the Knife (1932), The Wedge (1944), and an epic poem with a city as its hero, Paterson (1946–1958).