Clark Gesner ’60

Clark died July 23, 2002, of a sudden heart attack. He was 64.

Born in Augusta, Maine, Clark prepared for Princeton at Plainfield [N.J.] HS. At Princeton, he was a four-year veteran of the Triangle Club as a writer, cast member, director, and vice president. He also was social chair of Campus Club. An American civilization major, his thesis topic was "The Development of American Musical Comedy."

Since 1960, Clark lived and worked in NYC as a writer and producer. He began as a staff writer for television's Captain Kangaroo. In 1963 he became a freelance writer for TV, theater, and books using the name John Gordon. In 1966 he became a contributing writer, composer, and filmmaker for Sesame Street and The Electric Company and wrote for the BBC satirical series That Was the Week That Was.

Clark will be most remembered, however, for You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, first produced on Broadway in 1967. Clark often called Charlie Brown his "MacArthur Grant."

Clark was also an actor, appearing in B.T. Nicholl's Musicals in Concert and regionally in Lend Me a Tenor, 1776, and Carnival.

Throughout his career, Clark always remained deeply involved in Princeton Triangle, and he regularly attended reunions. He never married. He is survived by his two nieces, Amber Gesner-Jones and Paige Gesner, and his nephew, Eli Gesner, with whom the class mourns.

But as Clark himself put it in our 25th reunion book, "I must say, it's been a wonderful time." To which his classmates reply, "It has indeed; and you're a good man, Clark Gesner."

The Class of 1960