Series III. Personal, 1930-2012, inclusive

This subseries contains Lally's address books, calendars, and daybooks from 1982 to 2011 which track his daily routine and appointments. Wall calendar pages with illustrations by George Schneeman, and a 1979 Koff calendar with nude photographs of male poets Lally, Charles Bukowski, Bill Berkson, Tom Carey, John Godfrey, and Bill Kushner can also be found in this subseries. Material from Lally's time attending St. Benedict's Preparatory School, Trinity College, and the University of Iowa includes class papers, publications, MFA thesis notes, workshop files, and yearbooks. This subseries also contains documentation of Lally's service in the Air Force in the 1960s, as well as files related to Lally and his first wife Lee's marriage and divorce, dating from the 1960s to the 1990s. Journals and notebooks from 1962 to the 1990s contain vacation diaries, an acting journal, and financial records kept by Lally. Scrapbooks contain juvenilia from Lally's birth and early childhood, clippings, play programs, publicity, and documentation of his political activism in the 1960s. This subseries also includes political posters by Sharon Gregory and political buttons collected by Lally. Clippings and transcripts of interviews profiling Lally date from 1979 to 2011. This subseries also contains files on his grants and awards, resumes, and an original piece of artwork by Lally of friends Ray and Betsi DiPalma from the 1970s.

This subseries contains correspondence from 1966 to 1997 with Lally's friends and family. Correspondence from Lally's first wife Lee while he served in the Air Force describe their courtship and wedding plans, as well as cards and notes after their marriage. Letters from friends to Lee Lally from the 1960s and 1970s kept by Michael Lally are in this series. This subseries also contains letters from Lally's other two wives and his three children. Letters from Lally's parents James and Irene date from 1949 to 1973, sharing news of the family and events in their lives. Correspondence from Lally's siblings are also in this subseries, including letters from 1953-2010 from brother Campion Lally who served as a priest at Franciscan Chapel Center in Japan. A significant portion of the letters from friends in this subseries were sent while Lally was serving in the Air Force in the 1960s.