From hard scrabble origins on the Plains of North Dakota, to longshoremen organizing on Manhattan's West Side docks, to living the life of a Bohemian poet in Los Angeles and beyond, Thomas McGrath's literary aspirations took him far from his humble beginnings. For over six decades, McGrath created poems based largely on the themes of love, work, and political justice. His love of the prairie and his early years on a working farm were central to his life. The virtues of the agrarian community plu