Jeffrey Arnold Moss ’63

The class lost Jeff, who co-founded "Sesame Street" and helped create the Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch on Sept. 24, 1998. He also is famous for writing songs such as "Rubber Duckie" and children's books such as "Heironymous White."

Jeff won 14 Emmy and four Grammy awards as head writer and composer-lyricist for a show that reaches millions of children in 130 countries. He also earned an Oscar nomination for lyrics to a Muppets movie and wrote books under the "Sesame Street" brand as well as collections of poetry. He was 56 when he died of colon cancer in his Manhattan home.

Jeff played freshman soccer at Princeton, belonged to Colonial Club, wrote a thesis on Shakespeare, and was ubiquitous on the stage with Triangle Club and Theater Intime. He became a production assistant on CBS' "Captain Kangaroo" and then one of the show's writers. In 1969, he was recruited to write for "Sesame Street" with Muppets creator Jim Henson and musical director Joe Raposo.

Jeff's writing reflected deep kindness toward fellow beings and profound love of family: wife Anne, son Alex, and stepson Jonathan Smith.

The Class of 1963