Clark Coolidge, a poet often associated with both the New York School and the Language Poets, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on February 26, 1939, to Sylvia Coolidge (née Clark) and Arlan R. Coolidge, a classical violinist and professor of music who later chaired the music department at Brown University and helped found the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra. Coolidge briefly attended Brown between 1956 and 1958, where he majored in geology.