George A. McDermott, Jr., was born on August 7, 1943, and raised in Port Washington, NY. He lived and worked in various locations in New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, and passed away in Sarasota, Florida, following a heart attack.
He is survived by his wife, Helen Miller-McDermott, his daughter and son-in-law, Gillian K. McDermott and Jon Reiff, his stepson, Shawn Miller and Shawn’s partner Tammy Miller, and his sister Emily McDermott. His brother Dick pre-deceased him. He is also survived by an extended family that includes his brothers- and sisters-in-law, Richard Sewall, Eugene Hepler, Rose Ann Baldo-Hepler, James Hepler, Theresa Hepler, Dottie Ann Melin, his grandchildren, Gwyndolyn and Colin Reiff, Cortni Baker and Sammi Miller, his great-grandchildren Cyrus and Sage Sweigert, his nieces and nephews, Kathleen Stroud, Colleen Gallo, Ethan Sewall, Alexandra Sewall, Eric Sewall, Michaela Sewall, and Samuel Sewall and their spouses or partners, as well as his pampered Border Terrier, Deaglan.
The son of a medical editor/publisher and a teacher of Latin, French, and English, George early on developed a special relationship with words that carried him through his education and a varied professional career — and that he has now passed on to his daughter and grandchildren. He moved from Paul D. Schreiber High School in Port Washington to Harvard University, where he completed an A.B. in English. He then completed a master’s degree in education at SUNY Albany and did doctoral work (A.B.D) in Communications at New York University.
George began and ended his professional life as a teacher of English (and later of ESL), starting at Syosset High School in NY and finishing at public high schools in Philadelphia, PA. Between those postings, he did a multi-year stint bringing his creative skills to the corporate world by producing elaborate multimedia shows for national conventions of Armstrong Cork Company in Lancaster, PA. Following a coincidental re-encounter with one of his former Syosset High School students, Roberta Israeloff (now an educator herself), the two of them joined together to publish What Went Right: Lessons from Both Sides of the Teacher’s Desk, a study that one critic described as “a series of beautifully crafted letters…[exploring] the purpose of education, why some schools work (and some don’t).” With his wife Helen as close partner, George undertook a multitude of activities, including breeding and showing Border Terriers in Pennsylvania and immersing themselves in do-it-yourself projects that turned their houses and gardens in Pennsylvania, then in Florida into neighborhood showcases.
In retirement, they began each day with a long walk with Deaglan, then, over coffee, turned to solving the NY Times puzzles ‘Wordle,’ ‘Spelling Bee,’ and ‘Connections.’ Together, they also played Mah Johngg with friends and marched, picketed, and proselytized in a variety of heartfelt political causes. Perhaps more than anything else, though, George was a poet. Throughout all phases of his life, he crystalized words into evocative reflections on the meaning (or sometimes the lack of meaning) of human actions, ideas, and relations. Many of these poems, ranging from deeply felt personal reminiscences to satirical musings on post-constructionist analysis of texts, have been published.
What better way to end his obituary than to quote his “Atropos in Hollywood” (first published in Apiary Magazine), which casts the Greek Fate who snips the final thread of human life as a modern-day film editor: The cutter sits alone in the darkened room her sharp eyes reflecting flickering images that stop move again stop rewind to identical moments from alternative angles choosing perspective choosing focus finding the rhythm of word and gesture altering sequence to bring order and meaning to fragmented moments from fragmentary lives The stories have no beginnings no ends only incoherent middles until the cutter marks the cutter cuts the cutter strings it in order all together the walking shadow puppet players speaking lines that signify nothing is finished nothing is real nothing makes sense until the cutter cuts A memorial service will be held in the fall.
Brown & Sons Funeral Homes & Crematory 43rd Street Chapel, 604 43rd Street West, Bradenton, Florida, is in charge of arrangements.
