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1953
George W. Martin, 97, died in Kennett Square, Pa., on June 8. A historian and writer, Martin wrote “The Opera Companion: A Guide for the Casual Operagoer” and 11 other books about opera, Giuseppe Verdi and an eclectic array of other historical subjects. In 2005, he received the Supreme Court Historical Society’s Erwin N. Griswold Book Prize for his biography of a prominent New York lawyer and reform leader, titled “CCB, The Life and Century of Charles C. Burlingham, New York’s First Citizen, 1858-1959.”
Martin’s family shared that he was beloved for his erudition, wit and charm. He was born in New York in 1926 to George Whitney Martin Sr., a lawyer, and Agnes Wharton Hutchinson Martin. He graduated from Groton School, Harvard College and UVA Law. He practiced law for five years but then turned to writing as his life’s vocation.
“The Opera Companion,” published in 1961, became a standard reference and was reprinted in four more editions through 2008. It was followed by “Twentieth Century Opera: A Guide” in 1999 and “Opera at the Bandstand” in 2014.
Martin’s four books and numerous articles about Verdi were notable for including historical context and filling some previously unstudied niches in Verdi scholarship. “Verdi: His Music, Life and Times” was published in 1963 and “Aspects of Verdi,” a collection of essays, in 1988. His “Verdi at the Golden Gate: Opera and San Francisco in the Gold Rush Years” (1993) and “Verdi in America, Oberto through Rigoletto” (2011) described the public’s reception of Verdi operas in various American cities.
His interest in Verdi’s sympathy for the Risorgimento led to a historical study: “The Red Shirt and the Cross of Savoy, the Story of Italy’s Risorgimento” (1969). He was also a collector of Verdi papers and in 1992 donated 350 Verdi scores and librettos to the Pierpont Morgan Library.
Martin’s love of New York City and knowledge of its musical life and legal milieu resulted in several other histories and biographies. The New York City Bar Association commissioned him to write its centennial history, “Causes and Conflicts: The Centennial History of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York 1870-1970,” describing the association’s role in the struggle against city corruption. “Madam Secretary, Frances Perkins,” a biography of the nation’s first female Cabinet member, was published in 1976.
“The Damrosch Dynasty, America’s First Family of Music” appeared in 1983. In 1962, he wrote “The Battle of the Frogs and the Mice,” a retelling of an ancient Greek fable about the futility of war. It was illustrated by actor Fred Gwynne, his Harvard classmate and friend.
Martin was predeceased by his four sisters: Amy Pemberton Chapin, Julia Whitney Cheever, Agnes Whitaker Booher and Fanny Alice Connelly Cracknell.
John P. Sweeney ’52, his companion in life, died in 2002. He is survived by 11 nieces and nephews, including Ridley M. Whitaker ’77, and their children, who remember him as an intellectual mentor, a family leader, a great storyteller and an affectionate uncle who made each of them feel valued.
1955
John F. “Jack” Novatney Jr., 92, died at home in Hilton Head Island, S.C., on March 24. Novatney was born and spent all but his later years in Cleveland. He was a graduate of University School, Brown University and UVA Law School. He practiced with Baker & Hostetler for over 35 years. Late in his professional career, he served as general counsel of Central Reserve Life and volunteered as a municipal judge.
Novatney’s family writes that his grace, fairness, integrity, loyalty, discipline and sense of mission were matched by a wonderful sense of humor, characteristic grin and a ready laugh.
He served in the Marine Corps from 1955-61, where he attained the rank of captain and earned a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and the Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation.
Novatney loved the water, piloting power boats around the Great Lakes for most of his life and enjoyed being a longtime member of both the Catawba Island Club and the Cleveland Yachting Club. After retiring from boating in his 80s, he insisted on living near “navigable” water, settling on beautiful views of the Atlantic in Boca Raton, Fla., and then of the Port Royal Sound on the north end of Hilton Head. He was a natural athlete, a football star, captain of his high school baseball team and a college basketball letterman. He was an avid sports fan, particularly his beloved Cleveland Guardians (formerly the Indians) and the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Novatney was predeceased by his parents, Dr. John F. Novatney Sr. and Wilma P. Novatney, and sister, Joan C. Novatney. He is survived by his wife, June Pearce Novatney, Ph.D., and his children, Karen P. Kane (Patrick) of Missoula, Mont., Steven J. “Jay” Novatney ’96 (Heidi) of Hinsdale, Ill., and John F. Novatney III (Kari) of San Francisco; and grandchildren Shannon, Seamus, Drew, Bridget, Wes, Anna and Caroline.
1957
Noel C. Crowley wrote that, while he still mourns the loss of his dear wife in 2015, he has “the great and good fortune to have 23 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and counting.” He never learned to play bridge or chess, doesn’t collect coins or stamps, and ignores his fishing rod. “So, to escape the torments of idleness, I continue to spend weekdays and a great many weekends with my law partner and son, Mike, at the Crowley & Crowley office in Morristown, N.J., where we represent wrongfully terminated and otherwise afflicted employees. We occasionally plea for help from my (other) lawyer son, Scott, in Richmond [Va.].
Former Connecticut governor and three-term U.S. senator Lowell P. Weicker Jr. in 2006, at the commissioning ceremony of a research vessel named in his honor. (Bob Child/AP)
In Memoriam: Lowell P. Weicker Jr. ’58, ‘Maverick’ Connecticut Senator and Governor
P. Weicker Jr. ’58, a former U.S. senator and governor of Connecticut known for his independent streak, died June 28. He was 92.
He served as governor from 1991-95 after serving in the U.S. Senate from 1971-89. He previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Connecticut House of Representatives. Weicker sought the GOP nomination for president in 1980.
Weicker gained national attention for his service on the Senate Watergate Committee starting in 1973, where he became the first Republican senator to call for President Richard Nixon’s resignation. As chair of a Labor and Human Resources subcommittee a decade later, he sparred with President Ronald Reagan over proposed cuts to domestic spending.
President Joe Biden served with Weicker in the Senate for nearly 20 years. He said Weicker helped lay the groundwork for passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act and worked to boost funding for medical research and disease prevention.
“Throughout, Lowell was guided not by party, but by principle,” Biden said in a statement. “He was a fearless moderating force who stood up for those who couldn’t always stand for themselves—and he relished the fight.”
Weicker advocated for assistance to AIDS patients, obtained funding for important vaccines, helped establish research centers to study Alzheimer’s disease and worked to prevent cuts in funding for the National Institutes of Health, according to The Washington Post.
Weicker was elected governor as a third-party candidate and proposed a state income tax and spending cuts to remedy Connecticut’s growing deficit, the worst in the nation. Despite public protests and clashes with the legislature over budget bills, his economic plans were ultimately approved. He retired after one term.
Gov. Ned Lamont, a personal friend, said Weicker loved to challenge convention and “we’re better for it.”
“Opinionated? Yep. Absolutely,” Lamont said in his eulogy. “Inverse of that, maybe, is also highly principled. He was 100% certain that he was absolutely right 100% of the time. He usually was. And you know what? When he wasn’t, he was willing to change his mind.”
Weicker published his autobiography, “Maverick: A Life in Politics,” in 1995. He served in the U.S. Army from 1953-55, attaining the rank of first lieutenant, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 1953.
—Mike Fox
1958
By Larry Grim, Class Secretary
jlawrencegrimjr@gmail.com
I write these notes on the eve of my 90th birthday, reporting the sad loss of three giants of our class, but also offering joyful recollections brought on by our 65th reunion at Farmington Country Club and a visit to the Law School in the spring.
Len Cooper’s Dec. 18, 2021, death was reported in the spring of 2022. His widow, Vickie, follows up: “Len’s ceremony to be interred at Arlington National Cemetery took place July 13, delayed because of a large backlog at ANC. It was a beautiful service, and it was so meaningful to me because he is where he belongs. Len was drafted right out of high school in 1946 and served two years as a Navy medic. Then, when he graduated from Rutgers in 1952, the Korean War was on, so he reenlisted, went to officers’ training and served two more years as a line officer on a destroyer/minesweeper doing combat patrols off the shore of North Korea. Congress made members of the military in 1946 World War II veterans to make them eligible for the GI Bill, so that made Len a veteran of both WWII and Korea.”
The always dependable Bill Griesar reports: “My wife Jane and I are well—a little creakier (me, not she), but quite upright and above ground. [After recent travel to Vermont, the Southwest and Oregon], now we are settled at our cottage on the coast of Maine for the summer. Our boating days are over, but Maine still has its unique charms.”
On July 22, Allan Richard Johnson died. His daughter, Abigail “Abby” Johnson Raphael ’89, sent us the news: Allan adored his wife of 68 years, Nancy; his children, Josh, Gil and his wife Maureen, Abby and her husband Stuart Raphael ’89; and his granddaughters, Dana Raphael ’20 and Caroline—who called him Allie.
The University of Virginia and Charlottesville were very special to Allan and Nancy. They moved there after they were married in Wilton, Conn., in June 1955. They met their lifelong friends, Kitty and Ken Williams, and had great fun with them when Allan was not studying law or Nancy teaching at St. Anne’s-Belfield School. Allan was so proud to have his daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter follow in his footsteps to UVA Law.
Allan was born in Connecticut in 1933 and was raised by his loving parents, Anna and Karl Johnson. He graduated from the Kingswood School and Wesleyan University (Middletown). During their freshman year, he and Nancy met at Mount Holyoke College, where she was a student.
After Allan graduated from the Law School, he and Nancy settled in Southport, Conn. They restored their historic home and were leaders in the community. Allan was president of the Sasquanaug Association, one of the earliest community preservation associations in the country. He and Nancy were also founders of the Southport Conservancy. Allan later became its president.
Abby writes that the water was always a part of Allan’s life—from fishing as a child to sailing Long Island Sound and on to Martha’s Vineyard. He loved being at the helm of his boat, the Cygnet. He happily served on the board of governors of the Pequot Yacht Club.
Allan was a partner in the firm of Tate, Capasse and Johnson in Westport. After a successful career as a trial attorney, Allan delivered on his promise to Nancy to return to Virginia. In 1989, they moved to Virginia Beach, where they enjoyed sailing the Chesapeake Bay with dear friends.
He played competitive men’s doubles tennis until he was 80 years old and led his team to national tournaments. The small island of Anguilla felt like a second home as Allan and Nancy spent time there each year.
Allan was gracious beyond measure. He enjoyed telling a joke, delivering the punchline with a smile and twinkle in his eye. His family will forever cherish his love and kindness. Still waters run deep and are eternal, writes Abby.
Doug Mackall presided over our reunion. In 2018 for our 60th reunion, Doug treated a spirited gathering of a couple dozen of us to cocktails at his home overlooking Farmington Country Club before the Law School dinner. Alas, this year attendance was down to two: Doug and your secretary.
We reminisced about our mini-reunion in Sarasota, Fla., three years ago with Hobart McWhorter and his wife, Ellen; and Ben Phipps and his wife, J.J.; and my companion, Kathy O’Dea.
Doug is a loyal UVA sports fan and has probably set a record for most athletic competitions watched. He was in splendid spirits, full of zip, sharing sports news. While Hobart and Ben are gone, Ellen reports she summered on the beach with grandchildren and three great-grandchildren and attended Hobart’s granddaughter’s wedding in Athens, Ga. J.J. reports she moved to Tallahassee.
It was at our 60th reunion that we learned our beloved class secretary from our Law School days, Ted Torrance, was in the hospital. I sent him some notes of the festivities but, though he recovered his health, he turned over his job to me. This year, again at reunion time, we learned he passed away.
Edwin G. “Ted” Torrance, husband of Constance (Conner) Torrance, died peacefully on April 24 in Vero Beach, Fla. He was a resident of Barrington, R.I., until his retirement in 1997.
Ted was born Jan. 5, 1932, in Waterbury, Conn., the son of Walter F. Torrance and Harriet (Gager) Torrance. He was educated at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., and at Yale University. Following two years in the Army, with service in Germany, he attended UVA Law. He then practiced in New York City at Alexander and Green for several years. In 1962, he joined the Providence, R.I., firm now known as Hinckley Allen, and spent the remainder of his professional career there.
During his years with Hinckley Allen, Ted was involved in a number of charitable, business and civic organizations and in-state bar association activities. He also served as firm chairman for several years and as president of the Yale Association of Rhode Island. On the political front, in the 1980s, Ted made an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the Rhode Island House—an outcome he described as disappointing but one providing an invaluable experience.
Ted had a lifelong interest in a variety of amateur sports. At Yale, he was captain and MVP of the lacrosse team his senior year. His love of lacrosse led him to officiate at high school and college-level games after his playing days were over.
He also was a former president of both the University Club of Providence, where he enjoyed competing in squash, and Rhode Island Country Club, where he could be found on the golf course. His enthusiasm for golf led him to participate competitively as a member of both the U.S. Seniors’ Golf Association and the Rhode Island State Seniors’ Golf Association, and for many years he served as captain of the Rhode Island tri-state team.
When Ted left the Army in 1955, he elected to be discharged in Germany, whereupon he purchased a moped and embarked upon a summer-long tour ranging from the north of Scotland to Italy. It was that trip that sparked his desire to tour the U.S. in a similar fashion—a classic bucket list entry.
“To her enormous credit,” in Ted’s words, Connie eventually signed on to sit behind Ted on their newly acquired Gold Wing motorcycle and accompany him in the late 1980s on two round trips from Rhode Island to Seattle—with visits to many national parks ranging from Banff and Lake Louise in the North to the Grand Canyon in the South.
Ted and Connie also traveled extensively by more conventional means, many of their trips being centered on golf, but he always described as most interesting their journey by train from Beijing to Moscow, largely via the Trans-Siberian Railway.
In addition to Connie, with whom he shared over 60 happy years, Ted is also survived by their much-loved, supportive sons, David and Kimball; and grandson, Clay Curran.
On this page is another obituary of a different kind of class luminary, Lowell Weicker, who died June 28. Sadly, many of us never got to know Weicker, who went on to be a U.S. senator and governor of Connecticut.
Bill Griesar expressed his condolences and added, “I knew him slightly in law school. Remember him from those times as a gentle giant, always well-liked. In his career, I knew him as a moderate Republican.” (Your secretary does not remember him at all from law school but once dated a senior at Bryn Mawr College, Eunice B. Strong, who would become his lieutenant governor.)
During our reunion visit, we were lucky to stay at Farmington, designed in part by Thomas Jefferson and still the most beautiful golf clubhouse I’ve ever seen—and I’ve seen lots! The octagonal Jefferson Room was where, in 1955, immediately following College graduation, Mary “Memo” Mann, daughter of beloved evidence professor Charles “Gummy” Nash ’25, married Ensign Breck Arrington ’61. After the Navy, Breck lawyered in Norfolk, Va., New York and Los Angeles. He also served for a time as executive director of the Virginia Bar Association. Professor Nash lost an arm in World War I while shooting down—and being shot down by—Germans in bi-winged planes over Germany.
With the aid of another fraternity brother, my father became a member of Farmington, enhancing my access to its golf course and thus my popularity with golfers Torrance, Oram, George Harris, Tom Otis and others. Otis got an apartment for us overlooking the 14th hole and my longtime roommate Ollie Ward ’59 joined us. Ollie can be seen in the Barrister, pushing a gurney from which I’m jumping! It is in the Phi Delta Phi Libel Show picture taken by classmate Bill Bunting, our brilliant class photographer.
In college, I was lucky to get a room on the Lawn in my third year but had to move out and into the Phi Gam house as I was treasurer. There, I lived in a pig pen, and became a slob with a slob for a roommate, Thomas Douglas Soutter ’62. Tom dropped out of law school to marry Ginny Hovenden, long-time sweetheart, and attend Navy officer school. After three years he was back at UVA Law, on law review, and vice president of the class. He went on to serve as the general counsel of Textron. He loved UVA Law and for a few years was the national chair of alumni giving.
Otis married Mina Ellis, and at the reception dinner she directed me (one of 16 ushers along with Ted Torrance) to sit next to bridesmaid Nell Fisher, her fellow Harvard M.A.T. grad. I did. We later married. Chris was our first child; our second was our son Greg, now managing partner of Grim law firm, a 20-lawyer practice begun in 1895.
Between tours of the Law School and Farmington, I made a quick visit to the Martha Jefferson House, a gorgeous 100-year-old mansion that is now a rehabilitation and retirement home. There I enjoyed a delicious hour’s visit with former UVA historian Alexander Gordon “Sandy” Gilliam Jr., a dear college friend. Sandy’s father and uncle both attended the College, then the Medical and Law Schools, respectively.
While visiting the Law School with my daughter, Chris, I had the pleasure of meeting several of her friends from Norfolk. Blair Wimbush ’80, who followed her as chair of the Children’s Hospital of the Kings Daughters, chatted with us. So did Ted Mathas ’92, former CEO of New York Life. Dean Risa Goluboff came by and posed for a photo with Ted, Kathy and me.
After a brief but lovely chat, we had the treat of walking the great halls of the Law School, festooned with memorabilia of yesteryear, including reproductions of the murals of Clark Hall and many dean portraits. Two standouts for me are Emerson Spies draped in ermine and West Point’s country lawyer Hardy Cross Dillard 1927. They were so lifelike one could almost hear them lecture!
We then ventured to Chris’ son “Chipper” Neikirk’s graduation cum laude from Davidson, a quick visit with my roommate in the law dorms, John Shroyer ’57; his wife, Patty; and sister, Jan; in Winston-Salem, N.C., and a tour of the famed Biltmore Estate in Asheville.
1962
Paul D. Pearlstein’s review of “When the Smoke Cleared: The 1968 Rebellions and the Unfinished Battle for Civil Rights in the Nation’s Capital,” by Kyla Sommers, was published in the Washington Independent Review of Books this spring.
When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Black residents of Washington, D.C., protested for nearly two weeks, resulting in 6,000 arrests and more than $30 million in property damage. The long-term unrest had both good and bad results, Pearlstein writes, as they “birthed powerful new […] leaders who demanded full civil rights for all residents of D.C. Most importantly, these leaders insisted, D.C. had to be freed from intrusive control by Congress; it must be granted home rule”—a goal still not fully realized.
Pearlstein was one of 250 volunteer lawyers called to court in D.C. the day after King’s assassination. He stayed and represented prisoners assigned to him until they were finally released from jail at 3:30 a.m. the next day.
1963
Thad Gladden Long’s 2020 book, “The Impossible Mock Orange Trial,” was selected as the nationwide October Book-of-the-Month by the Online Book Club, a free online community for book lovers. It’s a courtroom thriller that examines the social, racial, legal and economic issues involved after a tire blows out, killing one child and severely injuring others.
In Memoriam: Venture Capitalist John W. Glynn Jr. ’65 Endowed Law & Business Program
Philanthropist, venture capitalist and visionary alumnus John W. Glynn Jr. ’65 died July 26. He was 83.
Glynn inspired and later endowed the Law School’s John W. Glynn Jr. Law & Business Program, which has helped introduce thousands of students to the language of the corporate world.
“John was a treasured member of the Law School community from the time he enrolled as a first-year law student more than 60 years ago,” said Dean Risa Goluboff. “A dedicated alumnus and volunteer, John devoted innumerable hours to the institution he loved.”
While a student in the mid-1960s, Glynn met his wife, Barbara, a student at UVA’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. After graduation, Glynn started his brief legal career at the San Francisco firm then known as McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen.
In 1968, sensing that something big was about to happen in Silicon Valley, Glynn left McCutchen to obtain his MBA at Stanford Business School, focusing on technology and venture capital.
“Silicon Valley was starting to take off in the ’60s, and I was attracted to investing in new technology companies, creating major waves of change and addressing new growth markets that had a chance to really make an impact on our lives, our society and the way we do things,” Glynn said in a 2013 interview with the UVA Law Communications Office.
After graduating from Stanford in 1970, Glynn went to work for a venture capital firm focused on emerging technologies. Six months into the job, he met Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore—two engineers who co-founded what would become Intel Corp.
“They had raised a little bit of money a year earlier just to get started, and we ended up putting a substantial amount of money in to help them grow the business,” Glynn said. “So we were a very early investor in Intel and that became a major, successful company and a terrific investment for us.”
Glynn credited Noyce and Moore with helping him start his own firm, Glynn Capital Management, less than five years later in December 1974. Over the years, Glynn and his firm invested in a variety of companies in the semiconductor industry, software, social media and gaming.
Glynn Capital Management was an early investor in Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as DocuSign, Intel and Intuit, among others.
Once Glynn had established himself in business and built his family’s financial security, he and Barbara began supporting UVA through their time, expertise and generosity. In 1995, the Law School established an alumni Business Advisory Council, to take advantage of the strength of alumni in business, finance and corporate practice.
With input from Glynn and the council, the school introduced the Law & Business Program in 2003.
Nearly 90% of J.D. graduates since the spring of 2020 have taken a class in the “Business and Finance” concentration.
Glynn also served as a member of the UVA Law School Foundation’s Board of Trustees from 2000 to 2013 and helped manage the Foundation’s endowment as chair of its investment committee. He continued to serve as an honorary trustee and an adviser to the investment committee until his death.
In 2022, the Glynns made matching gifts establishing three professorships, resulting in a total impact of $10 million for endowed chairs at the Law School (in Law & Business), the Darden School of Business, and the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.
“John’s wisdom, coupled with his and Barbara’s incredible personal generosity, has ensured that the Law School’s world-class educational opportunities are available to generations of future UVA Law students,” Goluboff said. “He was a remarkable man, and a kind and brilliant one.”
Glynn considered his investments in students—including his teaching, mentorship and career counseling—to be as important and meaningful as his monetary investments.
“I’m a believer that, as a young person, your challenge in life is to find something you really have a passion about—it doesn’t have to be business, it can be anything—that’s what you need to pursue because that’s what you’ll be good at,” Glynn said. “That’s what I hope to do in the Law & Business program. Give our students … a chance to think about career opportunities that they would have a passion about. […] Frankly, life goes by very quickly. You know, you only have one chance and you’ve got to find something you love and pursue it aggressively.”
Glynn’s survivors include his wife, Barbara, and four children.
—Melissa Castro Wyatt
1965
Irving Lee Faught published “Oklahoma Business and Commercial Law” through Matthew Bender. Faught also authored “Oklahoma Business Organizations: Formation and Representation,” a practice manual for lawyers concerning material specific to Oklahoma corporate, partnership, limited liability companies and securities law.
Faught is currently an adjunct professor of law at the Oklahoma City University School of Law. He retired in 2019 after serving as the administrator of the Oklahoma Securities Commission for 29 years. He is a member of Dispute Resolutions Consultants.
Retired Holland & Hart partner Samuel P. Guyton and his wife, Jean, founded the Holland & Hart Foundation in 1998. The foundation is focused on volunteerism and building community. The couple was highlighted in the firm’s annual report for their efforts.
1967
Having served as Bartlett Maritime’s general counsel since 2019, Stuart S. Dye now serves as general counsel emeritus. Dye will continue to advise the founder and board of directors on strategic matters.
Following the tragic loss of the USS Thresher, Dye, a former naval officer, served as the board secretary for the secretary of the Navy’s deep submergence systems review group which led to the creation of the SUBSAFE program.
Dye is a retired partner at Holland & Knight and has more than half a century of experience in maritime and government affairs practice. During his career, he has represented domestic and multinational corporations and trade associations involved in transportation, homeland and maritime security, and energy.
1968
Artist Charles Hobson celebrated his 80th birthday surrounded by family in a spectacular setting. His son, Parker E. Hobson ’99, center row, left, later went to Yale Business School. His daughter, Mary Daniel Hobson, center right (named after Mary Daniel “Danny” Heilig, the wife of Hobson’s classmate George Heilig ’68), has a master’s degree in art history and photography from the University of New Mexico.
