Jonathan Chamberlain Williams ’51

In 1949 he left Princeton to paint, and in 1951 went to study at Black Mountain College near Asheville, N.C. That same year he started a small publishing house, the Jargon Society, which later was assisted by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Jonathan published the works of little-known writers, photographers, and artists for over 50 years. He was a poet, essayist, photographer, and graphic artist himself — talents that contributed much to Jargon’s influential reputation.

Thomas Meyer, his business partner and companion of more than 40 years, said, “The face he presented to the world was that of an irascible crank, a loose cannon and a gadfly, but as a publisher he was extraordinarily generous, always looking for the overlooked.”  

Jonathan’s myriad interests included long-distance hiking, Appalachian plant life, civil rights, vernacular variations, English parish churches, graveyards, Chinese porcelains, Japanese poetry, and French haute cuisine.

Jonathan lived on a farm in Scaly Mountain, N.C., and died March 16, 2008, of pneumonia. His sole survivor is Mr. Meyer. The class offers sympathy to him on his loss.