James Montgomery Beck III ’52

Jim died of cardiovascular disease Aug. 13, 2006, in Princeton. He was a longtime resident of the Nassau Club.

Born in London to an American father and a British mother, Jim came to the United States in 1939 and returned to the United Kingdom after graduation from Princeton. Thereafter he lived in several locations, domestic and foreign, before settling into his Nassau Club apartment.

A lifelong bibiophile and writer, Jim entered Princeton from the Hun School and majored in English. Later he did graduate work at Columbia and the University of Rhode Island.

Jim’s early career was varied. He owned a restaurant in London and also worked in advertising, government, and academe before retiring to Princeton, where he devoted himself to researching his family’s rich history. His American grandfather was a noted Pennsylvania congressman, James M. Beck, and his British relatives included an Edwardian author, a prime minister, and Lord Grey of Fallodon, the British foreign secretary during World War I.

Jim was a member of the English Speaking Union, Trinity Episcopal Church, the Princeton Club of New York, and Spouting Rock Beach Association of Newport.

He is survived by his twin sister, Virginia; his adopted son, David; a half-brother; three grandchildren; and a great-grandson. To them, the class extends deepest sympathy.