Saul Touster

SAUL TOUSTER, JD - 93, of Boston, formerly of New York, NY, passed away Friday, December 7, 2018. He was the beloved husband of Irene Tayler. Born in Brooklyn, NY, he was a son of the late Ben and Bertha (Landau) Touster. Prof. Touster attended Harvard University as Navy ROTC, was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa, and graduated magna cum laude with an AB. He was sent to the South Pacific Theater during WWII serving as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy. In 1944 and 1945 he was decorated with the Philippine Liberation Medal. After the war, Prof. Touster returned to Harvard University to earn a JD in 1948. He practiced law in New York City before accepting a faculty position at the law school of the University of Buffalo (UB), marking the beginning of his distinguished academic career. From 1966 to 1968, he served as assistant to the university’s president, helping with UB’s transition from private university to state university, SUNY Buffalo. In 1969, he returned to New York City to teach at the State College at Old Westbury, and then, in 1971, to serve as a professor, provost, and eventually academic vice president at City College of New York. Prof. Touster moved on within the City of New York University system to become acting president of Richmond College for one year before teaching at the CUNY Graduate School and John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He also served as a legislative consultant for the New York State Law Review Commission, and as a visiting professor at the University of Brussels. In 1980, he moved to Brandeis University to create and direct their legal studies program. In 1990 and 1991, he served as counselor to the president of Brandeis. After retiring as a professor emeritus in 1993, he served as a visiting professor at Boston College Law School in 1994.

Throughout his life, Prof. Touster was an active poet and writer. As he stated, “My work of leadership in public roles in metropolitan higher education is tempered and humanized by a lifetime commitment to writing poetry.” In 1966, his book of poetry, “Still Lives and Other Lives,” received the Devins Award. In 1977, he was the American Bar Foundation Legal History Fellow, and in 1978, National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow. In 2000, he edited and wrote the forward for “A Survivors’ Haggadah,” and “Beyond Words: A Holocaust History in Sixteen Woodcuts done in 1945.” Toward the end of his life he experienced a remarkable burst of creative energy, and in 2017 he published a second book of poetry, “From My Life,” a thoughtful summing up of his journey and an eloquent expression of the love he shared with Irene.

In addition to his wife, Irene, those left to cherish his memory are his beloved children, Natasha Touster of Buffalo, NY, Jonathan Touster of Clarion, PA, Edward Tayler of Newton, MA, and Jesse Tayler of New York, NY; and five treasured grandchildren.