Editorial

Farewell to a Friend

All of us here at Iron String Press were saddened last week to hear of the death of Edward W. Stack, one of our village’s most committed, industrious and indefatigable supporters, on Sunday, June 4. His passing has left a plethora of memories in our community, and we are extremely thankful for the commanding legacy, rich and fruitful, that he left us.

Ed spent his youth on Long Island, which included a nasty bout with polio in 1949 (which left its mark) and graduated from Pace College (later Pace University) on a Friday in June 1956. He began working for the only organization he was to work for, the Clark Estates, the following Monday, and spent 44 years in New York City and Cooperstown, supporting as many institutions as he could get his hands on, amusing us with many stories, encouraging us to laugh, and making things right. We laughed a lot.

His home base was Glen Head, as he spent most of his time at the Clark Estates office in New York City, but he and his wife, Chris, spent their summers in Cooperstown with their three children. It was here that Ed did so much for the Village of Cooperstown and its surrounding Otsego County. The National Baseball Hall of Fame, with its museum and library, took a large part of his time; the revered organization was expanded and renovated, in terms of its missions—becoming both a collecting and exhibiting museum as well—its square footage, and the rules of election to the Hall of Fame. Ed fought successfully for a rules change that disqualified any player on baseball’s permanently ineligible list from being considered for a plaque in the Hall.

Ed was also very supportive of the Cooperstown Farmers’ Market, offering ideas and negotiating space for the fledgling project, and of Hyde Hall, Hartwick College, Pathfinder Village, and the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital. In 1987, Glimmerglass Opera Festival moved into its new theater and undertook filling its much-expanded audience space. As a trustee, Ed was at as many performances as his schedule allowed, and it was he who famously said, repeatedly, he so much wanted the little company to survive. He also devoted much time to the Fenimore House (now Fenimore Art Museum), and among the many projects he endorsed there, the Thaw Collection of Native American Art and its new wing were major objects of his attention. Ed’s sense of community service, his dedication to education and charity, his interest in new and evolving ideas, his determination to see them survive, his respect and enthusiasm for every person he met and for our upstate struggling not-for-profits, and his profound, unwavering sense of humor were all part of the man we so admired for half a century.

He was also a sincerely devoted father, helping his three girls navigate their futures, and running across the fields and through the forests with them to find the errant bullfrog or owl pellet that was missing from the annual scavenger-hunt list.

Among the many recipients of contributions that may be made in Ed Stack’s memory are the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Friends of Bassett and the Glimmerglass Festival. It is difficult to say which of these worthy organizations was his favorite, were he to admit to one; he worked energetically, for many years, for them all.