John R. Adam, 69, of Wenham, MA, passed away on Tuesday, December 17, 2024, at the Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers, after a courageous battle with cancer. Born in Sayre, PA, and raised in Amherst, NY, John was the son of the late John J. and Phyllis (Martin) Adam. John was a graduate of Amherst Central High School and later attended Ashland College in Ohio. John went on to have a successful career as a mortgage banker.
It was in his personal life where John truly shined. He spent most of his adult life on the North Shore of Massachusetts, where he cultivated a love for boating. John had a keen eye for design and was passionate about the homes he created. He was known for his enthusiasm in the kitchen, always eager to share a meal and a laugh with those he loved.
To John, his friends were family. His sense of humor and infectious personality made him a friend to many, and he had a unique ability to make anyone feel welcome. He will be remembered for his warmth, generosity, and the joy he brought to those around him.
John’s family was of great importance to him. He is survived by his wife, Heidi (Zenger) Adam, whom he married in 2010. John is also survived by his beloved daughter, Alexandra Adam, and son-in-law, David Chattman, his stepdaughter, Ellis Hargadon, whom he lovingly referred to as his “bonus daughter”, as well as his sister, Lisa Adam. John was preceded in death by his first wife, Susan (Augello) Adam, who passed away in 2005. John and Susan were married in 1980 and share a daughter, Alexandra.
A Memorial and Celebration of John’s Life will be held at 11am on January 11, 2025 at Myopia Hunt Club. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Mass General Cancer Center in John’s honor. Arrangements are under the care of Campbell Funeral Home, 525 Cabot Street, Beverly, MA. For more information or to leave an online condolence, please visit www.CampbellFuneral.com.
Dr. Tracy Braun, 76, of Anthem, Arizona, passed away on February 11, 2025.
Born on December 21, 1948, in Buffalo, New York, Tracy pursued a distinguished academic career, earning a Doctorate in Metallurgy from M.I.T. His expertise in the field, specifically copper and gold mining processes, made a meaningful impact to his colleagues and the industry around the globe.
Tracy is survived by his wife of 39 years, Chriss, their daughter, Susannah, her husband Chad and their son, Alex, as well as his two younger brothers, Tom & Pete, and their families.
Beyond his professional achievements, Tracy had a lifelong love of golf and enjoyed worldwide travel. He especially enjoyed his time on the golf course with friends.
A celebration of Tracy’s life will be held at Anthem Country Club Ironwood clubhouse on Friday, February 14 at 2:00pm.
Many fond memories of Tracy will be cherished by friends and family for years to come.
SAVE-THE-WEEKEND! Class of 1985 40th Reunion July 18-20, 2025 Let’s raise our glasses, have some laughs and share stories about our very special days together in Amherst. Specific plans are in the works, but please spread the word and make your travel arrangements because it’s definitely ON! If you have suggestions or want to help coordinate, please contact Kristen at (617) 480-9268. Please JOIN our
Beloved Husband of Sandra (nee Thompson); loving Dad of Rebecca (Leo) Dombrowski and Amy Toale; cherished Papa of Emily Dombrowski, Mya and Sabrina Blackwell; caring brother of Lynn (Douglas) Endres and the late Alan F. Toale. Also survived by several nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews. Brother-in-law of Lynne (the late Don “Bo” ) Newsom. Proud member of WNYRHS for over 40 years and Toy Train Collectors Society. Flowers gratefully declined. Family and friends may call Friday, 1/31/2025 from 1-4 PM and 6-9 PM at the JOHN E. ROBERTS FUNERAL HOME, 280 Grover Cleveland Hwy (at N. Bailey), Amherst, NY 14226. A Funeral Service will be held Saturday, 2/1/2025 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 4007 Main Street, Amherst, NY 14226 at 10:00 AM, the service will be live streamed for those who wish to join virtually. Please share condolences www.jerfh.com
Eric Scigliano, the long-form Seattle journalist known for award-winning articles and books that dug deep into topics ranging from marine science to local politics, died last week in a diving accident in the Galápagos Islands. He was 71.
His death was confirmed by his brother, Brian Scigliano, and daughter, Kate Scigliano.
In seven books and countless articles for local and major news outlets across the United States — from the Seattle Weekly to The Atlantic — Scigliano had a knack for finding the perfect turn of phrase. But as news of his death rippled through Seattle’s media world, “it’s been really hard for people to find words,” said Sally Anderson, a close friend.
“He had that kind of an impact. There is a largeness about his absence that’s really pretty unusual,” she said.
A globe-trotter rooted in Seattle since the 1970s, Scigliano was well-traveled, well-read and well-loved. Boundless curiosity and wanderlust led him to far-flung places and subjects: the importance of Carrara, Italy’s marble quarries for Michelangelo’s masterpieces; the relationship between humans and elephants; pet octopuses; climate change; and, in his travels, the Arctic, Brazil and the mountains of the Pacific Northwest.
Friends, family and former colleagues remember Scigliano as an ebullient presence, someone who could set anyone at ease.
“Eric,” Anderson said, “made people feel at home.”
Digging deep
Scigliano grew up mostly in the Midwest, but “the land of my most radiant and, I sometimes think, definitive childhood memories” was Vietnam, he wrote in a 1990 Washington Post story.
He was about 4 years old when the Scigliano family moved to Saigon — Eric’s father, a Michigan State University professor, took part in a U.S.-funded operation there — in the late 1950s, “the blithe intermission between what the Vietnamese call the ‘French War’ and the ‘American War,’ ” he later wrote.
Women in satin tunics and straw hats biking through the city and monsoons “blowing boughs of locust and tamarind into the streets” left indelible impressions. In Vietnam, elephants captured the author’s fascination, the seed for his 2002 book, “Love, War and Circuses: The Age-Old Relationship Between Elephants and Humans.”
Scigliano came to journalism by way of art. After studying and opening a commercial art studio in Santa Fe, N.M., he drew editorial cartoons for local publications and, as he said in a 2017 interview with L’Italo Americano, occasionally helped out the editor by writing. He’d found his calling.
In the late ’70s, Scigliano landed in Seattle — drawn by his future wife, as well as the city’s industrial feel and natural beauty — where he first wrote for the alt-weekly publications The Argus and, later, the Seattle Weekly.
“I love the ocean, and I like to dive,” he told L’Italo Americano. “Living in Seattle means you are very aware of the water around you. My interest in marine science was a natural part of this evolution.” (He’d go on to write books about Puget Sound, the Pacific Coast and ocean science.)
At Seattle Weekly, Scigliano wrote a story about the “other internees” of World War II: the Indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands off the Alaskan coast. His reporting detailed the Aleuts’ imprisonment in camps by the U.S. government and the looting of their homes and graves by American GIs. It earned Scigliano a Livingston Award, a prestigious prize for journalists under 35 years old.
“His mixture of rigor and kindness was very unusual,” said Seattle Weekly founder David Brewster, who edited Scigliano across a range of local publications. “He was very popular at the Weekly. People would cluster around his desk. He was funny, and he had all kinds of unusual comments about things. He was a good pal.”
Another colleague and editor, Knute Berger, said Scigliano had the ability to tackle just about any topic with both rigor and evocative writing: He would report on crime in Belltown, but also authored “a two-part series of very lengthy stories about dirt,” Berger remembered with a chuckle.
It was classic Scigliano. He was the kind of journalist who could find fodder for a story right under his feet. Often quite literally: In a 2019 Seattle Times story, he wrote about our city’s subterranean world, where “thousands of miles of tunnels, pipes and cables wind, twine, criss and cross through the ground — the arteries, capillaries, nerves, ducts and guts of the body civic.”
In 2019, he tried to make the climate crisis tangible in the book “The Big Thaw: Ancient Carbon, Modern Science, and a Race to Save the World.” It was a daunting task, but “Eric was the ideal writer to describe the scientific complexities of this story in clear terms, and weave it together with compelling and hopeful human stories,” said Helen Cherullo, publisher of Braided River in an interview with L’Italo Americano. The book won Scigliano multiple national awards for environmental writing, as well as the Washington State Book Award for general nonfiction.
But Scigliano wasn’t one to boast — he lived and traveled without ego or reservations, Anderson said. He was very much a “person of the present tense,” she said, the kind of host who would forget to cook the fish he’d invited you over for, because he’d become so absorbed in conversation. Someone who could be anywhere in the world at any given time.
“Where’s Waldo? Forget it — where’s Eric?!” said longtime friend Tim Appelo, who fondly remembered the time Scigliano decided to roast a chicken in his fireplace (which came out perfectly). “You never knew what new thing he was into.”
Kate Scigliano said her father would be remembered not only for his published work, “but also for his eclectic interests in art and music, and his deep appreciation for diverse cultures and geographies,” she said in a statement. “He died as he lived — pursuing his passions.”
Scigliano is survived by his daughter, Kate, and his siblings, Brian, Claire and John. Multiple tribute gatherings are in the works, at Folio: The Seattle Athenaeum and at The Royal Room, with dates to be announced later.
Seattle Times reporter Paul Roberts contributed to this story.
Tiger Tracks 