Deceased August 14, 1999
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In Memory
With great sadness we have to report the death of our classmate and friend, Don Howard. Don died of liver failure in North Shore Hospital, Manhasset, N.Y., on Aug. 14, 1999. Divorced, and without children, Don is survived by his mother and his brother, Ken, an Amherst graduate from the Class of 1966.
After graduation, Don earned an M.F.A. from Smith College in 1976 before pursuing a career on the professional stage. He enjoyed some memorable successes including roles in Alone Together, with Kevin McCarthy and Janice Paige; West Side Waltz with Katherine Hepburn; and Legends with Carol Channing and Mary Martin. He also served as stage manager for several tours of Deathtrap and the international tour of West Side Story. Sad to say, however, neither Don’s professional nor his personal life seemed to bring him much sustaining happiness in later years. He became depressed and withdrew from his old friends. At the time of his death, he was living in his mother’s home in Manhasset.
Let the emphasis fall rather on memories of the happier young man who made his presence felt in many ways at Amherst. We who roomed with him during our college years will retain countless memories of Don in his element: sitting cross-legged in his chair, with his cabled sweater and faded jeans, a cigarette in hand, holding forth on his favorite subjects: politics, the Yankees, and modern theater. He seemed larger than life: a vivid, brawny redhead of great boldness and good cheer—cheerier than anyone we knew—and surely one of the most engaging men on campus. “Never pre-judging a person, always open-minded and fair, Don had a great appreciation for the viewpoints of others,” as Bob Reichstein said in eulogising Don at a memorial service in late summer. “He was the friendliest guy I ever knew,” Bob said, and also “the most professional. ... In any performing situation, whether with the Zumbyes or in a show, there was never any doubt that Don had the best singing voice or the greatest stage presence; but Don never boasted about his rare gifts. ... And his humility and comradeship were responded to in kind with great warmth and enthusiasm by those who worked with him.” Through his acting, his singing for the Zumbyes, his writing and staging his own musical, Paul Bunyan, and his befriending so many of us with so much warmth and generosity Don created an inimitable persona the very liveliness of which makes his death all the more shocking.
Anyone who cares about Don would wish to understand how his humility and impressive self-control gave way to sadly disabling self-disparagement and self-suppression. But to say even this is to say really more than we know. We know only that he became unhappy, but that even in his unhappiness he was never less than kind and helpful to those of us who sought to contact him, and that he will be dearly missed.
Bob Reichstein ’74
Cully Wilcoxon ’74