Timothy Robert Clark

1950 - 2021

Timothy Robert Clark

Dublin, NH — Timothy Robert Clark was born in Maryland on May 2, 1950. He excelled in high school in sports, academics and theater and was accepted on a scholarship to Harvard, where he met his future wife, Mary Chittenden Lowry of Minneapolis. They were married in 1973 at her family's home on the Connecticut seashore. From there, they landed in southern New Hampshire where they would walk together on a lifelong path paved with mutual respect and adoration. Tim's love for Mary, his dear May, was a deep love, a storybook love, 51 years of dedication and affection. They raised their three children Liza, Dan and Joel, all of whom credit Tim with an immeasurable influence on their lives. His family misses him, and is endlessly grateful for the miraculous years and decades they spent with him.

Tim wrote poems, stories, essays, and articles continuously throughout his lifetime. He worked as a writer and editor at Yankee Magazine for 23 years, where his unique intelligence was perfectly suited to a magazine dedicated to New England and its geography, culture, and history. Tim supported and shaped the magazine, expertly crafting its pages and forming lifelong bonds with his colleagues. He was also part of the Old Farmers' Almanac for 40 years, for which he created features and poetry. He was a master of language and constructed brilliant verses of doggerel, which to this day still cascade along the margin of the forecast pages, their words reflecting the predicted weather of each month. The latest edition's verses should not be missed, as it is doubtful they will ever be quite the same.

Tim's gift for words and language included speaking and acting, and in the 1990s he became involved in voice acting and consulting for Florentine Films, the film company created by Ken Burns and Tim's friend and former colleague Dayton Duncan. Tim's voice can be heard in many of their documentaries, including Mark Twain, Lewis & Clark, and The National Parks.

Tim's deep love of theater, which was born in high school, continued through college and then among the community of players, artists and creators in the Monadnock region. He performed in 15 plays at the Peterborough Players, including Inherit the Wind, You Can't Take It With You, and Our Town. As his children grew up, he began to direct them and their peers in plays at ConVal High School, including the musicals Bye Bye Birdie, Penelope, South Pacific, and his original musical Rank, as well as comedies The Servant of Two Masters and Shakespeare's Greatest Hits. The plays he directed featured performances by gifted student casts and musicians, including many who would go on to become professional actors, singers, and stage crafters. His plays were triumphant, not only in their execution and reception, but in the culture of nurtured creativity and diversity of thought they created among students, parents, and teachers.

As his children went off to college, Tim wanted a new challenge and became a high school English teacher around the turn of the millennium. As an example of his trials as a beginning educator, during his first week he led a class on an outdoor walk for team-building, and several students were attacked by hornets after a nest was disturbed. But he did not give up then, nor ever, and marched on, supporting the growing minds of hundreds of students, giving them his knowledge, attention, and respect until he retired from teaching in 2012.

Since the end of his teaching career, Tim kept busy. He went back to work for the Almanac until 2020, writing his infamous doggerel and dreaming up new projects all the time. He remained an avid reader and writer, reading the Globe each day, doing every crossword, and reading classic novels with his wife. He was recently alternating between the complete works of William Shakespeare and the Jack Reacher detective novels, which he was consuming at a rate of more than one per week, kept in pages by the Dublin Public Library.

As a pillar of strength in the Dublin community, Tim has been actively involved in promoting and supporting Dublin and all its residents, services, facilities, schools, and businesses for decades. He was Dublin town moderator, deacon of the Community Church, and Justice of the Peace. He loved Dublin, and all of the towns and people of this region, and left an indelible mark on our culture that can never be measured or fully appreciated.

Tim Clark was an extraordinary person. He adored his family, he was contented with his life, and he was deeply respected in his community. Tim suffered a stroke while at home, and was surrounded by his family in the hospital when he passed. Tim is preceded in death by his parents, Ann and Ed Clark, and is survived by his sisters, Janie Clark and Nancy Neimo (Ken), his beloved wife May, his children Liza Hauze (Jonathan), Dan (Holly), and Joel (Crichton), his cousins, nieces and nephews, and his five grandchildren, who will always remember the fun they had with him racing matchbox cars, play-acting, reading, and sharing knowledge. He smiled and laughed with them and encouraged their young minds, and they are comforted by the same love and grace with which he has covered us all, during his 71 years on earth.

In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to the Dublin Community Church or the Peterborough Players. Anyone who wishes to share memories or thoughts about Tim with the family can email TimClarkMemories@gmail.com. A memorial service is planned for the weekend of April 9, 2022 in the Monadnock region. Details will be posted when available.