Miriam Patchen (1914–2000) was the wife and muse of poet and novelist Kenneth Patchen, who dedicated each of his more than 40 books to his wife. He also wrote and published a large number of love poems for Miriam including well-known pieces like "23rd Street Runs Into Heaven."Miriam met Patchen in Boston in 1933 at a friend's Christmas party. At the time, Miriam was an undergraduate at Massachusetts State College in Amherst.