Deceased January 9, 2013
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In Memory
Tom passed away on Jan. 9 after a long struggle with ALS.
Tom’s parents purchased a summer place on the rocks of mid-coast Maine in the 1950s. I first made the journey to Maine to visit him in 1957. Tom had a little sailboat and he taught me how to sail.
During a summer in Maine he met his future wife, Peggy. Tom and Peggy were married during his graduate school years and they had two great kids: Sarah, who now teaches at Amherst, and Charles, who works in Boston’s financial world. Tom and Peggy have six lively grandchildren.
After Amherst, Tom attended the Yale School of Drama to earn his Doctor of Fine Arts in directing and then went on to teach at Mary Washington College for four years and Kenyon for 36.
Tom was a man who was devoted to his family, to good food and good cooking, and he was a man devoted to the theater. He spent his Amherst years on the Kirby stage, and after Yale he spent his life teaching all the right things to his college students—lessons that would stand them in good stead if they pursued a life in the theater or even if they went on to do other things. His wisdom informed their paths. Tom was one of that rare breed of theater professors who could not only direct plays and teach acting but also teach theater history and dramatic literature—things that he could do, amazingly enough, even without notes.
He loved everything about building wooden boats and meeting the people who kept the old building skills alive. He raced with me on many occasions before being stricken.
Each of us may have known Tom in different settings. He took great joy in many things and I was lucky enough to share a few of those with him. I will miss him, as will many, many others. He was a good and generous man.
Richard Schotte ’64