Chris died of cancer June 17, 2014, in Rockport, Mass.
Born in Cheyenne, Wyo., June 15, 1938, he was the son of Col. Clebert and Martha Hail of Sausalito, Calif. He prepared for Princeton at the Notre Dame School in Rome, Italy, where he played football, participated in debate and dramatics, and was elected to the National Honor Society.
At Princeton, Chris majored in architecture, was a member of the Army ROTC program and Key and Seal, and became editor of the Princeton Tiger. He withdrew from Princeton in March 1959 and enlisted in the Navy Reserve.
He subsequently graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and had a career as a librarian, serving at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard until his retirement in 1988. While there, he compiled Cambridge Buildings and Architects, a comprehensive database. He also played the piano daily and created a scholarly website on the music of the composer Domenico Scarlatti.
He is survived by his sisters, Carolyn Morton, Leslie Hail, and Linda Godlis; and his spouse and partner of 42 years, Michael O’Connor. The class extends sympathy to his family.