Alastair Reid was born in Galloway, Scotland on March 22, 1926. He was a poet, translator, and essayist. He wrote more than a 100 articles and poems for The New Yorker, beginning in 1943 and ending in 2004. He translated the works of Jorge Luis Borges and Pablo Neruda. He was the author of several collections of poetry including Oddments Inklings Omens Moments, Passwords, Weathering, Inside Out, and Outside In. He died on September 21, 2014 at the age of 88.