Mark K. Blackman III ’65

Mark died Sept. 20, 2015, from lung cancer after a long struggle involving surgery and chemotherapy.

After serving as president of his class at Central High School in Fargo, N.D., he started with the Class of  ’64, but took a year off to teach in Greece before returning to graduate with us. Mark majored in romance languages and took his meals at Cottage.

After graduation he worked for Continental Bank in Brazil, Thailand, and Amsterdam, and several financial institutions in New York City. At age 58, he earned a journalism degree from Columbia and went on to teach at LaGuardia Community College while living in Brooklyn, meanwhile publishing urbane and witty articles about his travels in a variety of publications. He was Peter de Svastich’s best man at Pete’s second wedding, and a moving reminiscence of Mark written by Pete appears on our class website.

He leaves his companion of 40 years, Mila Moreira; his son, Matthew; and his ex-wife, Harley. In the words of a classmate, Mark was “debonair, suave, witty, very handsome, and full of mischief.”  May he rest in peace.