John "Jack" Silas Reed (1887-1920) was an American journalist, poet, and communist activist, famous for his first-hand account of the Bolshevik Revolution, Ten Days that Shook the World. Reed was born in Portland, Oregon, he entered Harvard College in September 1906, and he threw himself into all manner of student activities. Graduating in 1910, he visited England, France, and Spain before moving to New York City in March 1911. He grew to love New York, relentlessly exploring it and writing poems about it; he enjoyed the independence he now had from his parents. Although living in Greenwich Village, he kept somewhat apart from its myriad intense, hostile cliques. He joined the staff of the American Magazine in 1911 with Lincoln Steffens' invaluable help, and in 1912 published "Sangar," probably his finest poem (Poetry, December 1912; also privately printed), besides producing the first of the Dutch Treat Club shows, "Everymagazine." The following year he issued privately The Day in Bohemia. Amongst his other works are: Insurgent Mexico (1914), The War in Eastern Europe (1916), and Red Russia (1919).