John R. Graebner ’58

John died Jan. 22, 2016, in Hyannis, Mass.

He graduated from The Hill School. At Princeton, John majored in English, wrote his thesis on Henry James and D.H. Lawrence, and was a member of Campus Club. His junior-year roommates were Jake Page, Dave Leeming, and Bruce Grier.

After graduation, he lived in Paris, Vienna, and London, working odd jobs. Upon returning to America, he continued to travel, engaging in a wide variety of occupations, such as gardener, short-order cook, store clerk, English teacher, and encyclopedia seller in Philadelphia. Soon he settled in New York and became a freelance photographer, using his hotel room in the Times Square area as his darkroom. An inheritance provided him with sufficient funds to allow him to begin writing in earnest.

Eventually he moved to Hyannis and died with no heirs.