Wilfrid Sheed was friends with Lowell's first wife, Jean Stafford. Sheed remarks on the intensity of Lowell's vanity, and quotes his father, for whom Stafford h

Wilfrid Sheed was friends with Lowell's first wife, Jean Stafford. Sheed remarks on the intensity of Lowell's vanity, and quotes his father, for whom Stafford had worked, as saying that she was unfortunate to have become famous before Lowell did. The man suffered, no question. But he seems to have been very hard on those around him.