William B. Sprout III ’55

Born in Boston July 16, 1933, Bill Sprout, son of Sybil and William B. Sprout Jr., died April 8, 2012, in Cohasset, Mass. He was an educator, linguist, international traveler, racquet wielder, journalist, and bed-and-breakfast owner.

After graduating from Princeton and earning a master’s degree from Columbia, he attended La Sorbonne in Paris, where he earned a Certificat des etudes francaises. He received a Ph.D. from Harvard, where he was a teaching fellow in French and English.

A Korean War veteran, Bill studied Korean for 11 months at the Army Language School, then was posted for one and a half years to Tokyo. Primarily a language teacher at Boston-area schools, he also taught film and was a staff reporter for the Providence Journal and The Rhode Islander. Bill lived two years in Germany and five in Paris, where he was assistant d’Anglais in a French lycée for three years.

Bill played on the European tennis circuit. He was highly ranked for two years in France in singles, was in the A Level Bundesliga in Germany, then held national and New England rankings in tennis and squash. His marriage later in life led to the Bare Cove B&B of Hingham, Mass.

To Bill’s sister, Sarah S. Lovett, and her husband, Bob, the class extends sympathy.