Deceased October 31, 2017
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In Memory
Charles died on Oct. 31, 2017. He was one of my dearest friends. We met at Amherst during the 1958–59 academic year. Charles had taken off a semester, so, even though he was class of ’57, he was still on campus in 1958–59. We hit it off immediately, mostly getting together over reading Finnegans Wake aloud to each other.
We both went to New York City after graduating and continued getting together there. We would go out, wandering around the dock area, sometimes in the vicinity of the meat wholesalers and their trucks, loaded with whole carcasses. Very surreal. I recall once standing with him near a pier containing trash that had been collected in the city, waiting to be taken by barge to be dumped somewhere out in the ocean. It was about 100 yards on a side, and easily 30–40 feet high. We were astounded at the enormousness of it all.
Our conversations quite often became almost a trading of free associations. One thing would touch off another, and we’d go long hours bouncing off each other’s minds.
Charles and his wife, Diana, lived at the family home in Washington Crossing, Pa., with quite a few acres. There were lots of his statues and sculptures spread around the place and a large barn that he used as one of his sculpture studios as well as an indoor studio in the house.
As one can read online, Charles was a well-known graphic artist (etchings, lithographs, etc.) and sculptor. He was meticulous in his work, and it is amazing and beautiful. His art is exhibited in many collections.
Charles is survived by his wife, Margaret Diana Greig Wells, and five children.
Peter Strauss ’58