Amherst, MA Leslie Huntington Brown, age 91, died April 5, 2019 from complications of peripheral artery disease. Born in Boston, MA, he was the son of Huntington Brown, a professor of English, and the former Elizabeth Waldo Wentworth. He spent his early years in Cambridge and later Minneapolis after his father accepted a position at the University of Minnesota. He was a graduate of the Blake School, Hopkins MN, and Harvard University with an A.B.cum laude in English literature. During the Korean War, Les served in the Air Force as a translator, intercepting conversations of Russian pilots flying into German airspace. A brief stint as a copy boy for The Washington Post was followed by a 28-year-career in the U.S. Department of State with a specialty in science, technology and national security. For his work as Deputy Director of the Department of Political-Military Affairs during the 1982 Beirut, Lebanon crisis, Les received a Presidential Award for serving as chief architect of the strategy to halt fighting in Beirut, evacuate personnel and relocate the PLO. After he retired from the State Department in 1983, Les joined Harvard’s Center for International Affairs (now the Weatherhead Center) for ten years as Director of the Fellows Program, a year-long sabbatical for senior diplomats and military that, as Les liked to say, helped transform the stiff and formal bureaucrats of the world into born-again students.
In his later years, Les took up long distance cycling and cross country skiing that brought him much pleasure, as playing ice hockey on Lake of the Isles had done in his youth. He added a pot of strong afternoon tea to his daily routine, as his mother had done, joined by the cat sprawled on his chest, and always with a stack of books nearby at his chair.
Les is survived by his wife Mary Elizabeth Manz, brother Randolph, sister Elizabeth Stommel, son Andrew (Robyn) from his first marriage and three grandchildren. He was predeceased by his brothers Christopher and Jonathan and sister Martha McGandy.
A memorial service will be held at the Grace Episcopal Church, Amherst on Friday April 26, 11:30 am with a reception to follow.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Les’ memory to the Kestrel Land Trust, P.O. Box 1016, Amherst, MA 01004 or the Amherst Senior Center, 7 Boltwood Walk, Amherst, MA 01002.