Rod McKuen (1933 - 2015) was an American composer, poet, and singer. Born in Oakland, California, his early life was unhappy and tumultuous. He dropped out of high school and moved to San Franciso, where he found work as a disc jockey, newspaper columnist, script writer, and folk singer. He served a stint in the army, then recorded several records, appeared in several movies, and got serious about writing songs and film scores. Some of Hollywood's biggest names recorded his work, and several of his songs--"Jean,"  "The Mummy," and "Seasons in the Sun"--made the Top 40. At the peak of his career, Rod sold over 100 million records and 60 million books of poetry. Never embraced as a "serious" poet by the academic world, he remains the bestselling poet in American history.