James W. Reid ’55

Jim was born Oct. 12, 1933, in London, and died Dec. 4, 2016, of complications from leukemia at White Plains Hospital.

Jim was a key player in Gen. William Westmoreland’s clandestine “Operation Vesuvius” in Cambodia from 1967 to 1968, and was decorated by Gen. Creighton Abrams with the Legion of Merit for his “outstanding meritorious services.” During the years of left-wing terrorism in South America, Jim and his wife, Riet, served seven years as military attachés.

A Renaissance man with eclectic interests and fluent in seven languages, including Russian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Quechua, an ancient Incan language, he had a secondary career as a cruise-ship lecturer, delivering more than 1,000 presentations.

A foremost authority on Peruvian textiles, Jim specialized in pre-Spanish-conquest art, archaeology, history, religion, sociology, and political institutions. For his explorations of remote areas of Peru, Jim was an elected member of the Explorers Club.

As a resident of Hartsdale, N.Y., and an animal lover who served with his dog in Korea, Jim contributed generously to animal shelters in Westchester and South America.

Among his 16 major books was Masterpieces of Ancient Peru, which according to art historian Frederico Kauffmann Doig “finally lifted the veil that for so long has enveloped feather art.”

Jim is survived by Riet, sons James and Pascal, four grandchildren, and sister Ginny Hansen.