William Duane Tucker

A creative writer, poet, and actor, Duane Tucker, passed away from a heart attack on Sunday, January 14th in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He was 75. His wife, Marion (Nicolle), predeceased him on March 20, 2018.

Born in New York City on February 17, 1948, to William D. Tucker and Mary Elizabeth (Hayes), Duane was a graduate of Columbia University, where his grandfather, Carlton Hayes, taught European History.

While studying in New York with Bill Hickey and Gene Frankel and observing Lee Strasberg at the Actor’s Studio, Duane began a career as an Off-Broadway actor. He was cast in the touring company of Equus which led him to Los Angeles. He moved there in 1976 and acted in numerous films and TV shows while earning a master's degree in film from Loyola Marymount University.

It was because of his deep love of the outdoors that Duane began writing screenplays. This blossomed with his one-man show, Range of Light, the story of the early environmentalist, John Muir, the founder of the Sierra Club. He performed the play for audiences around the United States, Canada, and Europe.

Duane went on to write numerous screenplays while starting to write poetry. It was after being introduced to the beauty of the Hamilton area near Toronto by his Canadian wife, that Duane’s creative focus turned to writing poetry. His poetry has been published in nearly a hundred publications, among them: Blue Unicorn, Luminous Wildflowers, Chrysalis Reader, Spillway, Midwest Poetry Review, California State Poetry Society, New Thought Journal, and Passenger (where he was voted poet of the year 2002.)

As the eldest of seven children, he is survived by three sisters and three brothers, Mary Evelyn, Paul, Anne (Tucker Roberts), Carlton, Libby, and Peter; six in-laws; a mother-in-law, Ruthie Savage; six nieces and nephews; and three great nieces and nephews.

Donations can be made to Self-Realization Fellowship (Toronto).