Born in Washington, D.C., he attended St. Albans and St. Mark’s preparatory schools. At Princeton he majored in philosophy and played varsity tennis and squash. He was a member of Colonial Club.
A gifted English teacher, Cuff taught for several years at the Brunswick School in Greenwich, Conn. After moving to Mount Desert Island, Maine, he and his wife at that time, Barbara Lawrence, launched Train Properties, a real-estate firm committed to environmentally sustainable development.
Over many years he served as both junior and senior warden at the Episcopal Church of St. John the Divine in Southwest Harbor. Cuff maintained a lifelong commitment to progressive values and community service. Later in life he wrote thousands of terse, epigrammatic, philosophically questioning poems.
Loyalty was one of his cardinal virtues — loyalty to family and its traditions of public service; loyalty to the schools he attended, most especially Princeton; and loyalty to his wide circle of devoted friends.
Cuff is survived by his former wife, Barbara; his beloved children, Michael and Elizabeth; three grandchildren; and his faithful companion of many years, Anne Welles.