Cynthia King

Cynthia (Toni) King, 86, died Wednesday, August 8, in Hanover, New Hampshire. She had lived in Bethel, Vermont between 2003 and 2008 and in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, since 2008. Previously, she had lived in Scarsdale, New York, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Houston, Texas, Fripp Island, South Carolina, and College Station, Texas.
She was born in Manhattan on August 27, 1925, the daughter of Elsie and Adolph Bregman. She attended the University of Chicago and Bryn Mawr College.
She has published four novels - In the Morning of Time, the Story of the Norse God Balder; The Year of Mr. Nobody; Beggars and Choosers; and, Sailing Home - as well as numerous short stories.
She was an editor of children's books for the New York Times and published book reviews for the Detroit News, the Los Angeles Daily News, and the Houston Chronicle, among other publications. She also was a free-lance magazine writer, a creative writing teacher in public and private secondary schools, a lecturer at various writing conferences, universities, schools and libraries, and a director of several symposia on aspects of writing. Most recently she compiled the soon-to-be published catalogue raisonné of the works of Hugh Townley and was the Chairwoman of the Hugh Townley Foundation.
Among the honors that have been conferred upon her is a creative writer's grant from the Michigan Council for the Arts and a creative non-fiction award from Detroit Working Writers. She was a member of the Authors Guild, Poets and Writers, and Detroit Women Writers.
Survivors include her two sons: Gordon King, a resident of Boston, Massachusetts; Nathaniel King, a resident of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Her third son, Austin, died in 1986. Her husband, Jonathan King, who was best known for his work in the theory and design of educational building systems, died in 1997. Her companion from 2003 to 2008, the sculptor, printmaker, and educator, Hugh Townley, died in 2008.
Services will be at the convenience of the family.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be sent to either: The Jonathan and Cynthia King Memorial Student Research Endowment, Texas A&M University, College of Architecture, College Station, TX 77843; or, to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., Attn: Online Services Program, 434 West 33rd Street, New York, NY 10001.