Service on March 26 for David Lattimore, 1931–2024

David Lattimore, age 92, passed away on Thursday, February 15, 2024. David was a son, father, grandfather, husband, poet, translator, photographer, and professor. He was born on March 25, 1931, in Peking (Beijing), China, to travelers, authors, and scholars Owen and Eleanor (Holgate) Lattimore.

David circumnavigated the globe three times before the age of five. Evacuated from Perking in 1937 by the Japanese, the family eventually settled in Baltimore. David graduated from the Putney School ’48 and Harvard University ’52 and did graduate studies at Cornell and Yale Universities. A professor emeritus at Brown University for 35 year in Chinese studies, he prided himself on being a third-generation tenured professor without a Ph.D. (David Lattimore, Tianjin University and Dartmouth College, Owen Johns Hopkins, and Leeds University). An emeritus status was created for him at the Club of Odd Volumes.

David was a poet and spent many years translating the works of the eighth-century Chinese poet Du Fu. After studying at Yale, the family lived in Providence. After retiring from Brown, David lived with Gerry in Lincoln and Dingley Island, ME.

David is predeceased by his youngest daughter, Rosette, his second wife, Geraldine (Harrison), and his first wife, Emily (Sargent Lewis). He is survived by his children Michael, Maria Sheppard (Richard), Clare, Anne Price (Steven), and Evan (Jane); stepdaughters Karen Nazor and Leslie Riversmith (Clayton); foster children Margaret Lamar (David) and Michele Taylor (Steven); godson Sam Dennis; and grandchildren Marco, Duy Bao, John, Samuel, Eleanor, Dylan, David, Rhodec, Lenora, Frank, Jazz, and Rose.

Family and friends will gather to honor and remember David for a period of visitation on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, from 4–5:30 p.m. in the Concord Funeral Home (74 Belknap St., Concord, MA). His memorial service will follow at 5:30 p.m. Burial in Lincoln Cemetery will be private.

Arrangements under the care of Concord Funeral Home, which provided this obituary. Click here to see David’s online guestbook.