David Rounds Obituary

David Rounds

husband, father, grandfather, Hotchkiss and

Harvard alum,

Yankee (thought not a Yankees fan), Buddhist scholar, lifelong progressive Democrat, journalist,

editor, novelist, essayist, high school English teacher,

composer, translator, and poet – died March 24, 2019, after 21 years with Parkinson's disease. He was 76.

David, born in New York City to Stowell Rounds and Caroline Curtis Rounds, and raised in Wilton, Connecticut, graduated from The Hotchkiss School in 1960 and Harvard University in 1964. He thence moved to New York City to write his first novel. In 1965, he went on a blind date to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Sue Ashley, who impressed him with her knowledge of Dutch painting. They were married on June 24, 1967.

David and Sue moved to California in 1973 to study Buddhism, and they both were active with the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association for many years. David taught English for the Buddhist Council for the Rescue and Resettlement of Refugees – a program for refugees from the Vietnam War. He worked with others to translate the Surangama

Sutra, taught at

Developing Virtue Secondary School, and served as Editor of the journal Religion East and West.

After some years full-time with the Buddhist association, David found work as an English teacher at Anderson Valley High School. A generation of students, his son among them, remember him as mentor, writing tutor, college admission coach, and initiator into the life of the mind.

A lifelong writer,

David penned 2

novels, a book of children's stories, books on the trucking industry and the string quartet, and numerous essays, poems, and musical compositions.

Further giving voice to his love of music, he sang with the Ukiah Valley Madrigal Singers and

Hesperia, and co-founded the Deep Valley Chamber Series to bring classical musicians to Ukiah.

He is survived by Sue, his wife of 52 years, his brothers John and Tom, his son Nathaniel, his daughter-in-law

Allison, his grandchildren Benjamin and Eleanor, and a large extended family. His family and friends remember his integrity, sharp mind, kind heart, and memory for a staggering array of facts profound and trivial, long predating Wikipedia or Google.

The family would like to thank the staff of Canyon View Care Home for the

compassionate and loving care David

received in the final two years of his life. A celebration of his life is planned for this summer. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to The Michael J. Fox Foundation

for Parkinson's

Research. arrangements under the

direction of Eversole Mortuary

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Ukiah Daily Journal on Mar. 27, 2019.

Memories and Condolences
for David Rounds

Sponsored by UkiahDailyJournal.com.

6 Entries

Guy Baehr

June 7, 2021

I guess I am an acquaintance of David in that I am in the midst of reading his absorbing book, "Perfecting a Piece of the World," about Arthur Imperatore and his uniquely successful trucking company. As a newspaper reporter for the Newark, NJ "Star-Ledger," I covered Arthur around the time David was researching and writing his book. I did not know David but have had his book for years and finally got around to reading it. What a pleasure! So broadly and generously conceived. So genuinely smart and inspiring. Way beyond what I was expecting. Such a gifted journalist and writer able to capture Arthur and working class zeitgeist of northern New Jersey with such deep understanding. I wanted to contact him and thank him personally if I could. An internet search led me to this page. I'm sadly disappointed to find that I missed him by a few years, but I hope his friends and family happen to read this and know that David is still reaching out and touching lives with his work, making the world a little bit better than might be expected, just like Arthur.

Debra Pichler

April 9, 2019

He had such a huge influence on my daughter's life. He was a mentor to many of the students at AVHS. I hope he realized the positive impact he had on our children. He was one of the best things that happened to our school. I'm very sorry to hear about his passing.

Olie Smith

April 8, 2019

David Rounds was one of my favorite and most respected teachers in high school. As a science and math guy, English was not my thing. However, Mr. Rounds actually got me to really enjoy poetry. I still remember some of his descriptions of Robert Frost poems, and how he brought them alive.

Olie Smith

Nancy Edwards

April 8, 2019

I was a 1964 Harvard graduate but I met David Rounds in the fall of 1964 in New York City when he was dating my roommate. I met him once and knew that he was an aspiring writer. Then she told me she had broken up with him. Responding to his then unencumbered state I wrote him a letter and proposed marriage. He seemed a reasonable person with no obvious defects. But my reason for writing was not to actually marry him but to contribute to his stock of plots for novels and convince him that the strangest imaginary plot he could think of could be trumped by reality. I never received an answer.

I would like to know if he ever used this in a novel.
needwardsatcomcast.net

March 30, 2019

David is a great and caring man. Excellent translator. He will be missed.

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