JOHN VAN DOREN

VAN DOREN--John. (1928-2019) Of New York City passed away on January 27 at home, surrounded by family and Mira, his wife of 64 years. It was a life full of passion for books and ideas. Whether it was the works of Aristotle or Agatha Christie, he was forever engaged by literature and could quote Shakespeare with ease. He shared this passion with his students as a professor at Brandeis, Smith College and Boston University. His devotion to his alma mater, St. John's College (Annapolis, MD), the "Great Books" school, was lifelong. He received his PhD in History from Columbia, before then serving in the army. In 1969, he moved with his young family from Boston to Chicago, where he became the Executive Editor of The Great Ideas Today. He wrote poetry for many years and served on the Board of the Poetry Society of Chicago. He was raised in Greenwich Village in a family of writers. His father Mark and uncle Carl were both Pulitzer Prize authors; his mother Dorothy, a novelist and editor at The Nation; his aunt Irita an editor at the New York Herald Tribune; and his brother Charles, an author and teacher. John was a devoted grandfather of Henry, Abbott, Ross and Benjamin, and was proud of sons Adam (Charlotte), an artist and teacher at Yale, and Daniel (Susan), a lawyer and property manager. He spent many happy years at his weekend house in Cornwall, CT. He was dearly loved by his wife Mira, an artist and filmmaker. They shared an appreciation for art, music, and traveling throughout Europe. John will be missed for his warmth, generosity, humility, humor, and love of animals (especially his cat Oliver). Services will be held at The Riverside (West 76th St. and Amsterdam Ave.) Thursday, January 31, 2:30pm.