Dr. Leonard B. Glick

NEW SALEM-  Dr. Leonard Glick of New Salem passed away peacefully at home on January 9th with his family at his side, shortly after turning 94.

He leaves behind his wife, Nansi, of over 64 years; his children Benjamin, Noah, Marian, and Jesse; five grandchildren; and his sister Gail.

Early in his life, after earning an MD, Dr. Glick was drafted into the Air Force as a Medical Officer. While serving in Memphis, TN, in 1955, he performed the physical and psychological exam for a young but already famous Elvis Presley, whom he described as being quiet and polite.

Shortly thereafter, he left medicine to become an anthropologist. To conclude his doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania, in 1960-1962 he and his wife spent 18 months in the Highlands of New Guinea doing anthropological research. He taught for one year at Bryn Mawr College and then joined the anthropology department at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he taught for 7 years before the growing family moved to New Salem.

In 1972, Dr. Glick became Professor and Dean at Hampshire College in Amherst in the School of Social Sciences, two years after the college’s inception in 1970. He taught there for 30 years, specializing in anthropology and the history of the Jews of Europe before the Holocaust. He published two books: the first, Abraham’s Heirs, focused on the history and culture of Jews in Western Europe during the Middle Ages and their relationships with their Christian neighbors. The second, Marked in Your Flesh, is a history of circumcision from ancient times, when it was a sacrificial wound, to its present practice in America.

Dr. Glick aided his local community by serving as a judge at Mahar’s annual Science Fair in the Behavioral Health category. He was an active supporter and member of the board for the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust for a number of years, and for many years he conducted a Friday Night study group for the Jewish community of Orange, Athol and Gardner where they read and discussed Jewish literature of all kinds. He was an active member and popular lecturer for attendees at adult educational events at the National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst. And he strongly supported Intact America, a national organization dedicated to ending infant circumcision in America.

The family is conducting prayers at a brief private funeral service. In the spring a graveside memorial service will be held at the North New Salem cemetery.

Please, no flowers. If you wish to make a donation in Leonard Glick’s memory, he asked that you choose an organization dedicated to feeding hungry children; his family suggests contributing to the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.

Witty’s Funeral Home, 158 South Main Street, Orange, is assisting the family

Guest book online at WWW.WITTYFUNERALHOME.COM

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