April 3, 2008

Suzanne “Suzy” Mosher Saul’s intense and boisterous life ended on Jan. 6, 2008, four days before her 78th birthday. A resident of Boston and Jamaica Plain since 1986, Suzy fought multiple illnesses, including cancer and emphysema, for seven years before succumbing to respiratory failure. In her last moments, she was surrounded by friends at the Landmark Senior Living Center where she lived in Mission Hill.

The families of Suzy’s four children—Walter, Bailey, Rebecca Mundt and Joshua—and her 12 grandchildren are organizing a memorial service on Sat., April 5 at 3 p.m. at First Church of Jamaica Plain Unitarian Universalist at the Monument.

Born to a US diplomat on assignment in Beijing, China, Suzy was the daughter of John Stewart Mosher and Rebecca Williams, a direct descendant of Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island.

Suzy was repatriated during the Depression at age 5. The family finally settled in Cape Cod. Suzy spent years in boarding schools and developed a “smart girl” personality, reveling in literature, arts and witty conversation about politics and society. She read voraciously and had a phenomenal memory for poetry, history and conversation. Suzy graduated in 1951 from Bennington College where she studied literature and arts, notably under the poet laureate Howard Nemerov. Suzy was not a “rules-based” person—when, in 1947, she heard her father had a heart attack, she stole a professor’s car in order to get to the hospital.

In 1951, she married Richard Marshall Saul and accompanied him to law school at the University of Pennsylvania. Suzy began her first teaching job there at the Art Institute.

In 1961, with four young children, she followed her husband to his job in Washington, DC. There, she raised her family and began teaching film, humanities, literature and writing at Howard University, a major institution for African-Americans. Outspoken and a fervent believer in justice, Suzy was an early supporter of the civil rights movement. While teaching at Howard, her office was twice firebombed; she continued courses on the lawn amid the tear gas.

Suzy researched and studied at Howard for close to 18 years, achieving a Ph.D. in English literature. She left Washington for Boston a few years later. She graduated from Harvard School of Education in 1988 with a master’s degree at age 58. From 1988 to 1999 she taught in various institutions as an adjunct professor, notably contributing to develop the Massachusetts Prison Education Program.

Suzy contributed much to local life, aiding in the creation of the Jamaica Plain Arts Council; helping form the poetry group Jamaica Pond Poets; and supporting various causes and charities.

Submitted by Suzy Saul’s family.

Finality

This poem was written by Suzanne Mosher Saul in December, 2004 for her children at the loss of their father, but it is based on her mother’s funeral.

Funeral meats kept coming in the door.
Pies, casseroles, bunches of cold green grapes.
Voices made social noises; laughter.
Someone played the piano.
The books staring out from shelves
spoke not a word.
The dog lay watchful under the sofa.
The sun shuffled leaves, a deck of cards,
and slid away.
Quiet all day, the red teapot
burst into tears at four o’clock.
On the glass ocean
a single cormorant swam out,
the point of a widening V
upside down
for the sky to read.