James R. Bowditch

1933 - 2013

NEW LONDON - James R. Bowditch, August 27, 1933 to February 19th, 2013, was a brilliant man and an active member of the Adventures for Learning community as a teacher and organizer. He read a book a day every day of his life. He was an encyclopedia of knowledge. He had degree from Stanford and a PhD from Harvard, specializing in American Literature and Japanese culture. He was a Fulbright scholar in Japan. He grew up and lived in the Philippines, Mexico, Salt Lake City, Japan, Ethiopia, Rome and has been retired from his international teaching career in New London for the past 11 years. He spoke Italian fluently. He was a professor at Ripon College, Wisconsin, the headmaster of the overseas school of Rome and the international school in Torino for seven years, the headmaster at the International Community School in Ethiopia for three years and spent 17 years as a full professor at John Cabot University in Rome, Italy.

One of his great loves was his summer home in Chocorua, where he spent every summer of his life. Last year, he was awarded "Citizen of the Year" by the Chocorua community for his contributions as the President of the Chocorua Lake Association. He was responsible for getting the Chocorua Basin and all the homes there part of the historic national registry. Through Adventures in Learning in New London, he taught courses on Moby Dick, Tales of Genji, comparative religion, Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman to name of few. A fond memory of him was he gave visitors to Rome a tour of the Roman Forum and was a walking history book. He knew the story of every stone, archway, and ruin. He wrote ten books-none of them were ever published (not because they weren't good). He just wrote them because he LOVED writing. That was his passion-reading and writing.

He is survived by his sister Faith in Virginia; his sons Bruce in Tucson and Mark in Princeton; his daughter Rachel in Phoenix; his former wife and friend Chris in New London; and his four grandchildren Emily (25), David (15), Sophie (3) and Jai (1 and 1/2). He will be dearly missed.

A memorial service will be held Tuesday, March 5, at 2 p.m., at Hilltop House in New London. This summer there will be a reception for him in Chocorua. Details to follow this Spring.