From Wikipedia Rodney Marvin Rod McKuen April 29 1933 January 29 2015 was an American singersongwriter musician and poet He was one of the bestselling poets in the United States during the late 1960s Throughout his career McKuen produced a wide range of recordings which included popular music spoken word poetry film soundtracks and classical music He earned two Academy Award nominations and one Pulitzer nomination for his music compositions McKuens translations and adaptations of the songs of Jacques Brel were instrumental in bringing the Belgian songwriter to prominence in the Englishspeaking world His poetry deals with themes of love the natural world and spirituality McKuens songs sold over 100 million recordings worldwide and 60 million books of his poetry were sold as well according to the Associated Press