Dan Culberson

Dan Culberson, a veteran of the Army and IBM, fraternity president, film reviewer, journalist and author, died at his home in Boulder, CO on September 6, 2020. He published several books, including An Atheist's Handbook. In the days before he passed from complications associated with cancer, Dan told friends and family that he would "try to let them know" from the afterlife if he turned out to be wrong about his atheism. "It's unlikely" he said, with a characteristic sly grin. He was 79. Dan was born January 7, 1941 in Carmel, CA to George and Mamie Ruth (Meek) Culberson. He grew up all over the U.S. and Europe and attended high school in Colorado Springs, CO. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1963 with a B.A. in English literature in the Honors Program from the University of Colorado, Boulder, where he was president of the Pi Kappa Alpha social fraternity. Dan's spent three years in the U. S. Army, 1963-1966, during which time he was a journalism instructor for the Defense Information School at Fort Slocum, NY and a Public Affairs writer, and staff writer and photographer for Army in Europe magazine. In 1967 he joined IBM as a programming writer and editor, an engineering editor and instructor of editing, writing and graphics, retiring in 1992. Dan was passionate about film and reviewed movies from 1972 to 2014 for newspapers, magazines, radio stations and TV programs. He also acted in numerous local plays with the Nomad Players and the Upstart Crow Theater Group. He was named a Boulder Pacesetter in 1985 by the BOULDER DAILY CAMERA in the first year of that program. After retirement he published three books, including An Atheist's Handbook; Plastic Man: A Novel of the Sixties; and The Searcher. Dan loved the mountains. He spent over 40 years living in the mountains outside of Boulder and took annual ski trips to Vail, CO. Dan was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his first wife, Helen (Christman) McKeown, (married 1964, divorced 1974); his son Noel Culberson (Shina) and two grandchildren Emilia and Declan of Boulder, CO; his daughter Laura Knapp (Steve), and two grandchildren Langston and Lachlan of Highland Park, IL; his brother Darryl of Colorado Springs; his cousins Paul Belew of Aurora, CO and Lou Jean Burleson of Floydada, TX. Donations in Dan's honor can be made to KGNU Community Radio (https://give.kgnu.org/) or the Upstart Crow Theatre Company (www.theupstartcrow.org/support/donate/ ).