Hunter Grubb Hannum of Old Lyme, Connecticut, died on April 5, 2020. Born in Wilmington DE, he graduated from the Episcopal Academy, then located in Merion, Pennsylvania. He graduated with the class of 1953 at Harvard, where he subsequently received both his MA and PhD after serving in the U.S. Army as a cryptographer stationed in West Germany. He taught German and Comparative Literature in California at UC Berkeley and later Mills College in Oakland, retiring in 1973 as the Head of the Division of Letters to move to Connecticut. Together with his wife, he then became a free-lance literary translator from the German. Among their numerous joint efforts is Unwritten Memories, the autobiography of Katia Mann (the widow of Thomas Mann). They were awarded the Lewis Galentière Prize for their translations of two books by the psychoanalyst Alice Miller. Independently Hunter published numerous essays on figures such as Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss, Thomas Mann, Erich Fromm, Hans Jonas, and Rilke as well as the first English translation of a Goethe play, The Natural Daughter. He was a founding director and subsequent President of a private foundation that has given scholarships and environmental grants since 1968. He also served as an interpreter for the State Department during the Carter Administration, escorting members of the German Bundestag who toured the United States.
Hunter was a man of intellect, integrity, compassion, and generosity. A lover of classical music, he was an early subscriber and supporter of Musical Masterworks and rarely missed one of the Metropolitan Opera HD broad-casts at the Kate.
He leaves his wife of sixty years, Hildegarde, a daughter, Lisa Holmes of Hadlyme, and two grandchildren, Amelia (Holmes) Wood of Great Barrington MA and Hunter Holmes of Washington DC.
In lieu of flowers, it is requested that donations be made in his name to The Cunniff Dixon Foundation, PO Box 800, Essex CT 06426. The family would like to express heartfelt appreciation to Dr. Peter Dixon and to the exceptional staff at the Essex Meadows Health Center for their compassionate care, especially during this perilous time.
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