Geoffrey John Martin

Geoffrey J. Martin (of Woodbridge, CT) was born on March 9, 1934 in Ilford, Essex, England, and passed away on October 7, 2024 in St. Raphael's hospital after suffering from several infirmities. He was a scholar who specialized in the history of geographic thought, and in 2015 he published the award-winning American Geography and Geographers: Toward Geographical Science. Those who knew him professionally knew that this book fulfilled his ultimate professional goal-to offer as complete a history of American geography as had been attempted to that point. The three books that established his reputation as an archival researcher concerned three American geographers of historical importance: Mark Jefferson, Ellsworth Huntington, and Isaiah Bowman. He taught geography at Southern Connecticut State University for over 30 years beginning in 1966. He was also archivist of the Association of American Geographers for 30 years.

What made Geof a friend to many and an inspirer of smiles was his range. Born in Ilford, UK, he was from a working-class background, and he never looked down his long nose at anyone. In addition to being a full professor, he earned money as a road gang laborer, itinerant chess player in chess cafes in London and New York, substitute grade-school teacher, professional wrestling announcer, and assistant to a poisonous snake catcher in the Everglades. He was as likely to be good friends with the local garbage man (and he was) as he was with university presidents or directors of the American Association of Geographers.

He took his children for days on Southern's campus, as well as to professional wrestling events, where his cheers and boos were as loud (or louder) than his children's. His favorite activity was eating ice cream, and whenever he was asked if he would like some now, he would exclaim, "We better eat it now before they drop the bomb!" with a smile and a laugh. The expression was rooted in his something very unfunny, however, as he and his immediate family experienced the blitz in the East London area, running for the Anderson Shelter dug into the backyard and eventually being relocated to the west of England, an event which split the family. Along with the ice cream, the other joy that persisted for his whole life was playing chess. He was in the Guinness Book of World Records for decades for a simultaneous display he did while still in the UK (against 142 opponents), and even when his dementia was quite pronounced, he was still beating people at chess (up to a week before his hospitalization for sepsis and subsequent demise).

Geof had a passion for gardening, eating oranges ( scarce during WWII) and walking along the seashore. He grew tomatoes by the bushel, and loved planting fruit trees. He enjoyed fishing in small ponds and in the ocean. He never learned to type but published six books. He kept some of his British traits, even after 65 years in the US. He wore a tweed jacket with a pocket watch, wingtip shoes (even to the beach), pocket handkerchiefs, and liked to eat blancmange. He was indeed a quirky professor.

Geof was a person who talked to people wherever he went and taught huge numbers of students over the years. Because of this, he ran into people who knew him wherever he went, and he was always up for a "chin-wag" (his mother's expression). He was also known to break into song in public at times, and his repertoire was composed largely of novelty songs including "One Meatball," "Knees Up Mother Brown," and "Yes, We Have No Bananas." His movie preferences ranged all the way from James Bond to the Revenge of the Nerds franchise to the most low-budget monster movies you can imagine (The Beast with Five Fingers being a favorite).

Geof was hard to pigeonhole, and he was a good friend to many, having also mentored many young geographical scholars. As a young professor and recent immigrant to the USA, he was faculty advisor to a Black activist organization in need of one. His students remember being informed and entertained by his lectures in which he would satirically implore them to "study harder so that we can beat the Russians."

He leaves behind a daughter (Amanda), a son (Tad), and Tracy Fell (Tad's longtime partner) who loved him and are sad to see him go. He also had two grandchildren, Sam (whom he called "Sixpence") and Ben (whom he called "Tuppence") whom he loved dearly. He also leaves behind his brother David Martin (92 years old) and three nephews: Robert, Anthony, and Andrew Martin. He was pre-deceased by his father, Charles Martin, his mother, Elizabeth ("Betty") Martin, and his ex-wife and mother of his children, Norma Hummerstone.

Those looking to spend money in his honor should go out and do something enjoyable that they have not yet had the courage to do, exercising their individualism as he did and seeing how much enjoyment that can bring. There will be no services, following his instructions that he wasn't "going to spend any money so that people can say goodbye-if they couldn't be bothered to talk to me while I was alive, then the hell with them!" Yes, he could be a curmudgeon as well, but a genuinely humorous one.

There are a lot of people who were very kind to Geof: the folks at the American Association of Geographers and the staff at the American Geographical Society in Milwaukee, his colleague Patrick Armstrong, his ex-wife Paula Martin, the nurses and doctors in the hospice section of the hospital, Yakeisha Campbell of Opal Stork Home Care (the aide and friend who brightened the last two months of his life), and many others who can't possibly all be named here and who hopefully will not be offended at that fact.

All in all, it can be asserted with confidence that Geoffrey took seriously Lord Buckley's dictum to "stomp upon the terra."