University Diaries » From Zeph Stewart’s Obituary

…”He was brilliant in a very quiet way. He knew a great deal, but he wasn’t ostentatious about his knowledge, and he had an aesthetic sensibility that it was wonderful to be touched by,” [said a Harvard classics professor.] …Born in Michigan, Mr. Stewart grew up in Cincinnati, where his father was mayor and also served on the state’s Supreme Court. His older brother Potter became a US Supreme Court justice.

…”This was a calm, always gentle, but strong and righteous man,” said Adam Blistein, executive director of the American Philological Association, which Mr. Stewart served as president and financial trustee. “This was a man who knew what was right and would stand up for it without beating you over the head with it.”

Said Sarah Stewart: “… My dad was an incredibly good man, by all standards of what that means. I just don’t know that many people like that. It’s really quite amazing to have been raised by him and love him.”

…Decades ago, he began vacationing in rural Wyoming. Mr. Stewart stayed in cabins with no electricity or running water near the tiny town of Cora, which his wife said had once posted a sign announcing a population of three. Environmentally conscious long before it was fashionable, Mr. Stewart liked to walk and read in the shadow of the state’s western mountains.

“He sometimes said rather wistfully, ‘It would be nice if Widener Library were dumped down in Wyoming,’ ” his wife said.

Trackback URL for this post:
http://www.margaretsoltan.com/wp-trackback.php?p=3311

Peter Says:
December 12th, 2007 at 8:55PM

Zeph Stewart never knew my name, but I knew his, because I had a job in the late 1970s as a grad student taking attendance at Harvard faculty meetings. While some of the other faculty members curtly announced their names or even seemed offended that I didn’t know them on sight, Zeph Stewart always smiled warmly at me and said his name softly but clearly before proceeding into the meeting. He did it in such a gentle way that even though it was 30 years ago I remember him so well today. I’m sad to learn of his death, but his obituary captures the character of the man whose path once briefly crossed mine.

R.J. O'Hara Says:
December 12th, 2007 at 9:20PM

Ave atque vale.

Magistri: Hodgson of Newnham and Stewart of Lowell Says:
December 21st, 2007 at 12:56AM

[...] House at Harvard, who passed away earlier this month, in the Globe. (Thanks to Margaret Soltan’s University Diaries for pointing me to the Stewart [...]

3 Responses to “From Zeph Stewart’s Obituary”

Comment on this Entry

Latest UD blogs at IHE

Archives

Categories