On Monday April 29, 2024, the world lost a brilliant poet, a gentle soul, a dazzling intellect, a sparkling wit, and a loving father and husband. Jonathan Sisson, age 83, left this life much the way he lived it: calmly, peacefully, simply.
Jonathan was born March 20, 1941 in Boston, Massachusetts to Stanley L. and Margaret Borden Sisson. He graduated from Lexington High School in 1969, Harvard University (BA) in 1963 and University of Minnesota (PhD) in 1976.
Jonathan was predeceased by his parents, his sister Caroline Borden Pennell and brother-in-law Jack Pennell. He is survived by his devoted wife of 57 years, Linda Gurley Sisson; his beloved son Gregory Peregrine Sisson; his dear brother-in-law James Gurley (Rose); sweet sister-in-law Judith Weitzenfeld (Billy); nephews Mark, Evan and Kurt Pennell, Jesse and Daniel Weitzenfeld, and Daniel Forester; and niece Mary Ann Forester.
Jonathan’s family will be forever grateful to the loving kindness of the people who helped them through a difficult decade facing his Alzheimer’s disease, especially the wonderful staff, volunteers, and participants at My Friends Place, the congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Bangor, and the incredible staff at Westgate Nursing Home. Donations would be welcomed in Jonathan’s honor to My Friends Place, 703 Essex Street, Bangor.
More about Jonathan’s life:
Jonathan always liked entertaining people and making them laugh. Even as a child he was the class clown and in middle school he put on magic shows with his pal Ron Cahill. He loved chess and started a chess club in high school. In later life he and his wife Linda had a puppet company, The Peregrine Puppets, who performed original puppet shows all over Downeast Maine. Their tag line was “Sparking Imaginations, Spreading Joy.” Even the staff in the Dementia Care facility said he was still a really sweet, funny guy.
Jonathan’s favorite job of all time was working in an Appalachian Mountain Club “hut” at Lakes of the Clouds where he packed in food and supplies from the summit of Mount Washington. At the end of the summer he had quads like steel!
Jonathan’s writing was the product of a life-long fascination with the beauty and possibilities of the English language. He was a master of formal verse… almost a lost art. His literary criticism and his translations were brilliant, especially his doctoral dissertation on Vladimir Nabokov.
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jonathan wrote insightful reviews and articles for many publications including the Minnesota Daily, Artscape, and the Minneapolis Star and Tribune. He formed the Ithunn Apple Occasional Poets Collective, a group that included Keven Fitzpatrick, Robin Raygor, and Garrison Keillor. He was the resident poet in a studio of artists called Fort Mango. His poems were published in Dim Lake, a book of art and poetry by Gregory Bitz, Leon Huscha, and Jonathan. When he lived in Boston in the late 90s he started publishing a monthly “zine” called Gambado which consisted of his poems and prose pieces under a slew of pseudonyms like Lucinda Lynnwood, Mabel Nix, and Florence Goluvlirose. This publication was admired by Dana Gioia, head of the National Endowment for the Arts and a proponent of formal verse.
Jonathan taught English at the University of Minnesota (where graduate students were worked to death grading Freshman English papers!) and later at the University of St. Thomas and Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.
He loved making other people’s writing better. He worked as an editor for the University of Minnesota literary magazine, The Ivory Tower. Jonathan took a break from his doctoral studies to work in publishing in New York City for a time. Later he ghost wrote a memoir of Bernie Fitzpatrick’s experiences in a WWII Japanese prisoner of war camp. He also worked as a copyeditor at the Quoddy Tides in Eastport later in life. Ever the editor, he even sometimes had a red pen handy when he read a magazine and had the annoying habit of correcting the grammar of announcers on television.
On January 7, 1969, the day their ‘57 Chevy hit 100,000 miles, the happiest event of his life occurred when his son Gregory Peregrine was born. Greg was a joy to Linda and Jonathan. He was an old soul for sure. When he was only four or five he once said to Jonathan: “When I grow up to be a man and you grow down to be a boy, I’ll tie your shoes into a bow.” And he did provide great comfort to his Dad until the end of his journey.
When Jonathan and Linda moved to Boston in the late 90’s for her work, Jonathan took a brave step away from a life of white privilege, choosing to live in Dorchester and working at the Field’s Corner Settlement House where he worked with youth of mostly SE Asian and Cape Verdean backgrounds, teaching them chess and helping them to get into college among other things.
Some places Jonathan loved deeply were the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the Scottish Highlands, the Greek islands, the North Shore of Lake Superior, and the coast of Maine, especially the island city of Eastport where he lived for twelve of the final years of his prolific creative life. His poetry readings were exhilarating events, art “happenings” full of whimsy and humor. Patrons of the Eastport Arts Center enjoyed readings of his own poetry as well as those he staged of other poets. Never to be forgotten was his wildly funny introduction to the world premier of Louisa Suta’s movie “Incident at Pulpit Rock” for which he wrote the script..
A cycle of poems he wrote about Eastport called “Ghosthaven” ends with the following haunting verses:
The lone coyote’s tracks
Across the virgin snow
Run from the hackmatacks
Behind the bungalow
And through the broken rocks
In padding to and fro,
Snuffling for deer and fox.
The heart beats yes and no.
A celebration of Jonathan’s life will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Bangor at 120 Park Street on Saturday, June 15 at 2 pm.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Jonathan Sisson, please visit our flower store.
Jonathan was born March 20, 1941 in Boston, Massachusetts to Stanley L. and Margaret Borden Sisson. He graduated from Lexington High School in 1969, Harvard University (BA) in 1963 and University of Minnesota (PhD) in 1976.
Jonathan was predeceased by his parents, his sister Caroline Borden Pennell and brother-in-law Jack Pennell. He is survived by his devoted wife of 57 years, Linda Gurley Sisson; his beloved son Gregory Peregrine Sisson; his dear brother-in-law James Gurley (Rose); sweet sister-in-law Judith Weitzenfeld (Billy); nephews Mark, Evan and Kurt Pennell, Jesse and Daniel Weitzenfeld, and Daniel Forester; and niece Mary Ann Forester.
Jonathan’s family will be forever grateful to the loving kindness of the people who helped them through a difficult decade facing his Alzheimer’s disease, especially the wonderful staff, volunteers, and participants at My Friends Place, the congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Bangor, and the incredible staff at Westgate Nursing Home. Donations would be welcomed in Jonathan’s honor to My Friends Place, 703 Essex Street, Bangor.
More about Jonathan’s life:
Jonathan always liked entertaining people and making them laugh. Even as a child he was the class clown and in middle school he put on magic shows with his pal Ron Cahill. He loved chess and started a chess club in high school. In later life he and his wife Linda had a puppet company, The Peregrine Puppets, who performed original puppet shows all over Downeast Maine. Their tag line was “Sparking Imaginations, Spreading Joy.” Even the staff in the Dementia Care facility said he was still a really sweet, funny guy.
Jonathan’s favorite job of all time was working in an Appalachian Mountain Club “hut” at Lakes of the Clouds where he packed in food and supplies from the summit of Mount Washington. At the end of the summer he had quads like steel!
Jonathan’s writing was the product of a life-long fascination with the beauty and possibilities of the English language. He was a master of formal verse… almost a lost art. His literary criticism and his translations were brilliant, especially his doctoral dissertation on Vladimir Nabokov.
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jonathan wrote insightful reviews and articles for many publications including the Minnesota Daily, Artscape, and the Minneapolis Star and Tribune. He formed the Ithunn Apple Occasional Poets Collective, a group that included Keven Fitzpatrick, Robin Raygor, and Garrison Keillor. He was the resident poet in a studio of artists called Fort Mango. His poems were published in Dim Lake, a book of art and poetry by Gregory Bitz, Leon Huscha, and Jonathan. When he lived in Boston in the late 90s he started publishing a monthly “zine” called Gambado which consisted of his poems and prose pieces under a slew of pseudonyms like Lucinda Lynnwood, Mabel Nix, and Florence Goluvlirose. This publication was admired by Dana Gioia, head of the National Endowment for the Arts and a proponent of formal verse.
Jonathan taught English at the University of Minnesota (where graduate students were worked to death grading Freshman English papers!) and later at the University of St. Thomas and Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.
He loved making other people’s writing better. He worked as an editor for the University of Minnesota literary magazine, The Ivory Tower. Jonathan took a break from his doctoral studies to work in publishing in New York City for a time. Later he ghost wrote a memoir of Bernie Fitzpatrick’s experiences in a WWII Japanese prisoner of war camp. He also worked as a copyeditor at the Quoddy Tides in Eastport later in life. Ever the editor, he even sometimes had a red pen handy when he read a magazine and had the annoying habit of correcting the grammar of announcers on television.
On January 7, 1969, the day their ‘57 Chevy hit 100,000 miles, the happiest event of his life occurred when his son Gregory Peregrine was born. Greg was a joy to Linda and Jonathan. He was an old soul for sure. When he was only four or five he once said to Jonathan: “When I grow up to be a man and you grow down to be a boy, I’ll tie your shoes into a bow.” And he did provide great comfort to his Dad until the end of his journey.
When Jonathan and Linda moved to Boston in the late 90’s for her work, Jonathan took a brave step away from a life of white privilege, choosing to live in Dorchester and working at the Field’s Corner Settlement House where he worked with youth of mostly SE Asian and Cape Verdean backgrounds, teaching them chess and helping them to get into college among other things.
Some places Jonathan loved deeply were the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the Scottish Highlands, the Greek islands, the North Shore of Lake Superior, and the coast of Maine, especially the island city of Eastport where he lived for twelve of the final years of his prolific creative life. His poetry readings were exhilarating events, art “happenings” full of whimsy and humor. Patrons of the Eastport Arts Center enjoyed readings of his own poetry as well as those he staged of other poets. Never to be forgotten was his wildly funny introduction to the world premier of Louisa Suta’s movie “Incident at Pulpit Rock” for which he wrote the script..
A cycle of poems he wrote about Eastport called “Ghosthaven” ends with the following haunting verses:
The lone coyote’s tracks
Across the virgin snow
Run from the hackmatacks
Behind the bungalow
And through the broken rocks
In padding to and fro,
Snuffling for deer and fox.
The heart beats yes and no.
A celebration of Jonathan’s life will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Bangor at 120 Park Street on Saturday, June 15 at 2 pm.
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