Robert D.B. Carlisle ’44

Robert Carlisle, a writer in diversified media, died Nov. 19, 2009, at his Chatham, Mass., home. He was ’44’s president and secretary, and served as an Army field-artillery officer in Europe during World War II and in the Korean War.  

A Deerfield Academy graduate, Robert was on Princeton’s junior varsity soccer team and tennis and squash squads. His Princeton roommates included Dick Groves, Ham Carothers, Christy Bell, Gelston Hinds, and Theodore Griffinger. He graduated with honors as an English major and later earned a master’s degree from Montclair (N.J.) State College.  

After working as a daily newspaper reporter, he became Detroit bureau chief for Newsweek and then a TV writer for CBS, NBC, and ABC before joining the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as a producer and executive producer. He also was director of network operations at the State University of New York.

Robert wrote more than 28 books, as well as government texts and narrative poems. In 1989, he moved to Cape Cod, which he wrote about in several books and narrative poems. He championed efforts to preserve the character of Chatham and its surrounding waterways.

Robert had 16 family members who attended Princeton – going back to the Class of 1764. He is survived by his wife, Joan; four sons; and five grandchildren.