Lester Graves Lennon

Lester Graves Lennon was born in New Rochelle, New York, on May 23, 1947. He earned a BA in English from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1973. 

Lennon is the author of Lynchings: Postcards from America (WordTech Editions, 2022); My Father Was a Poet (CW Books, 2013); and The Upward Curve of Earth and Heavens (Story Line Press, 2003). 

Lennon is an investment banker, the poetry editor of Rosebud Magazine, and a member of the board of directors of the Community of Writers. A resident of Altadena, California, since 1992, he currently serves as Altadena Poet Laureate Editor in Chief, alongside Altadena Poet Laureate of Community Affairs Sehba Sarwar, from 2024 to 2026. In 2025, he received an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship.