She was Susan Wager, an ex-wife of Henry Fonda. Evidently, the blast had blown their clothes off.Ī neighbor helped the young women. They managed to escape the house, although, of course, they were badly shaken. Two others-Cathy Wilkerson and Kathy Boudin-were on upper floors. He had run an errand and was returning to the house. A third, Ted Gold, died when the façade collapsed on him. Two of the bombmakers, Terry Robbins and Diana Oughton, died in the basement. This was shortly before noon on March 6 the dance was scheduled for that night. The “Aquarians in the basement” were preparing a nail bomb.Ĭlumsy, they blew up themselves and the house.

At Fort Dix, there was to be an NCO dance-a big party, where non-commissioned officers would dance with their dates. They were also planning to blow up the administration building at Columbia University. They were planning to commit a mass murder at Fort Dix, in New Jersey. The house at 18 West 11th Street became a base for the Weather Underground Organization.Ĭathy Wilkerson moved in with several of her comrades. She needed a place to convalesce from the flu, she said. His daughter Cathy, age 25 and a political radical, asked whether she could use the house in his absence. In the early months of 1970, Wilkerson was on vacation in the Caribbean. The house passed through several hands, including those of James P.

The family moved from the house when the future poet was five. His father, Charles, was the founder of Merrill Lynch, the investment bank. Merrill was born in that house-a townhouse-in 1926. At the beginning of his poem, Merrill refers to “the Aquarians in the basement.” Later, he speaks of the house at large as “dear premises,” which have been “vainly exploded” and are “vainly dwelt upon.” Let’s dwell upon them. In 1972, James Merrill wrote a poem called “18 West 11th Street.” That is an address in Greenwich Village, New York City.

Weather underground