John Bret-Harte, an author, journalist and former UA and PCC instructor, died of cancer. He was 80.
Bret-Harte, a longtime Tucsonan who lived in Cathedral City, Calif., late in life, died July 11 at home surrounded by loved ones, including his daughters, Syndonia Bret-Harte and Ann Bret-Harte Beringer, and his sister, Kristie Bret Harte.
Bret-Harte, a great-grandson of the American Western writer Bret Harte, was born in Rome on June 22, 1932, but as a child moved with his family to Putney, Vt., said Kristie Bret Harte. She said their father, Geoffrey, taught at Putney School, a college preparatory boarding school.
After high school, John Bret-Harte majored in history at Stanford University and received a bachelor's degree in the early 1950s. Years later he received a master's from Yale University and a doctorate from the University of Arizona, said Syndonia Bret-Harte.
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In 1960, he moved to Tucson and taught at Valley School for Girls, and married Susan Uihlein that same year. The couple, parents of Syndonia and Ann, divorced in 1972.
Bret-Harte was hired as a crime reporter at the Tucson Citizen in the 1970s, where he also worked as a copy editor and columnist.
In 1980, Bret-Harte's book, "Tucson: Portrait of a Desert Pueblo," was published by Windsor Publications Inc. It is a historical narrative of some 200 years of the Old Pueblo. He dedicated the book to his late wife, Margaret. She served as head librarian for the Arizona Historical Society for 30 years. The couple married in 1973.
The book, which was issued by the American Historical Press in 2001, is filled with black-and-white historical photographs, and Bret-Harte's introduction says that "it makes no claim to be definitive, nor is it specifically a book for scholars. Instead, it is written for the reader interested in finding out something of the history, color, and flavor" of the city.
In the 1990s, Bret-Harte joined the Arizona Daily Star. He worked as a copy editor and also wrote restaurant reviews and book reviews for the Star.
He taught history classes part time at the University of Arizona and Pima Community College, said Syndonia Bret-Harte.
The family plans a memorial service for Bret-Harte in the fall at Grace St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 2331 E. Adams St.
Contact reporter Carmen Duarte at cduarte@azstarnet.com or 573-4104.
