He prepared for Princeton at Albany Academy. At Princeton he majored in history, joined Quadrangle Club, sang in the Chapel Choir and the Glee Club, and was active in several of the religious organizations on campus. A participant in Roy Heath’s Advisee Project, he personified what Heath came to call “the reasonable adventurer.”
Walt was a versatile and reflective educator and social activist. After earning a master’s degree in divinity at Yale, he pursued a multifaceted career centered on education. In his course he taught Christians and Muslims, coached basketball at a mission school in Lebanon, studied at the Goethe Institute in Munich, and taught courses in religion and culture at the Loomis School. He also earned a master’s degree in literature at Wesleyan University while serving as assistant director of admissions, promoted civil rights with federal grants, worked to improve access to higher education for disadvantaged youth, taught behavioral science at a community college, and engaged in conflict mediation.
Walt loved good conversation, reading, and letter writing — with a preference for putting pen to paper rather than transmitting bits.
Walt is survived by Debbie Massa, his partner of 26 years, whom he married in 2009; and her two daughters, Stephanie and Stacey.