PEABODY - Mr. Richard Thurston Scott, Jr. of Brooksby Village, Peabody, MA passed away November 19,th 2024.

Richard was born in 1936 in Glens Falls, NY, to Richard Thurston Scott, formerly of Ft. Edward, NY, and Yvonne Malvina Scott, formerly of Cohoes, NY. He graduated from Colgate University and earned a master's degree from The College of St. Rose in Albany, NY. In 1959 he married Jeanne Marie DeFilippo of Rye, NY.

After seven years as an educator, first in Tulare, CA, and then in Kingston and Glens Falls, NY, he turned to publishing for 16 years at Reader's Digest, first as an editor and then as Director of their Educational Division. During this time, he ran for the New York State Assembly. Richard was known to say that it's a good thing he lost, as he would have made a terrible politician.

He left Reader's Digest to become Publisher and President of Fodor's Travel Guide Publications and the David McKay Company. He later founded the travel guide department of Bantam Doubleday Dell. He was an inveterate traveler and had traveled to 38 countries. He served on the board of advisors to Personal Travel Technologies, and early GPS navigation company.

In the '70s, with Isaac Asimov, Nat Hentoff and Brendan Gill, he co-hosted the talk show "In Conversation" on WOR in New York and on 11 other stations around the U.S.

Richard retired in 2000 and moved to Salem, MA where he began publishing a website www.salemfocus.com and was active as a writer, photographer and painter. He published a number of spy, mystery and historical novels in both print and eBook formats. In 2010 he turned from oils and watercolors to digital painting, His work can be seen on his second website www.richardtscott.com.

He was active in the communities in which he lived, having served as president of the Mahopac, NY Public Library, trustee and vice president of the Salem Athenaeum in Salem, MA, and as a trustee on the board of Historic Salem, Inc. He was a volunteer teacher of ESL in Salem for many years.

In 2017, he and his wife, Jeanne, moved to Brooksby Village, a retirement community in Peabody, MA.

He leaves his daughter Kimberly and her husband, David Brody of Newburyport, MA, daughter, Debra and her husband, John Speziale of Eastham, MA. He also leaves granddaughter, Alleana and her husband, Adam Meyer of White Plains, NY, granddaughter, Renee Brody of Boston, sister, Barbara MacArthur of Williston, VT, nephew ,Peter Lavoy and his wife, Debra Louison Lavoy of McLean, VA, their children, Nathaniel and Zoe, and dear friend, Eileen Cargen of Peabody, MA.

ARRANGEMENTS: A Celebration of Richard's Life will be held at Brooksby Village Chapel on Saturday, December 7, 2024 at 3:00 P.M. Expressions of sympathy may be made in Richard's Memory to Brooksby Village Scholarship Fund, Philanthropy Office, 200 Brooksby Village Dr, Peabody MA 01960 http://ELM.convio.net/BrooksbySCH or to the American Heart Association, P.O. Box 840692, Dallas TX 75284 https://www.heart.org/. Assisting the family with the arrangements is O'Donnell Cremations – Funerals – Celebrations, 167 Maple St., (Rte. 62) DANVERS. To share a memory or offer a condolence, please visit www.odonnellfuneralservice.com.

Brooksby Village Scholarship Fund
Philanthropy Office, 200 Brooksby Village Dr, Peabody MA 01960
Web: http://ELM.convio.net/BrooksbySCH

American Heart Association
P.O. Box 840692, Dallas TX 75284
Web: https://www.heart.org/