Richard Caswell Hinners July 11, 1927-April 28, 2010

Richard was born and raised in Massachusetts.  He attended Harvard University, served as a medic in the US Army Air Force, and went on to complete a PhD in Philosophy at the University of Toronto.  He taught at Manhattan College in New York, Loyola University in Chicago, and Loyola College, later part of Concordia University, in Montreal.

Counterbalancing his interest in philosophy was a life-long love of farming and the land.  In 1974 he left the academic world and moved with his family to South Brook, Cumberland County, where he and his wife Barbara Jack operated a mixed farm centered around a small herd of his beloved Jersey cows.  He never regretted leaving academic life but he continued to think and write about philosophy off and on until he died.  In later years, his attachment to the farm was so great that he refused to travel anywhere more than a day’s drive from home.

Richard is survived by his brother, David, Bangor, Maine; wife Barbara Jack of South Brook; sons Christopher (Bess McCarty) of Austin,Texas and Andrew (Su Morin) of River Hebert; daughter Sarah Jack Hinners (Chris Pasko) and two grandsons, Phineas and Jasper Pasko of Boulder, Colorado; and former wife, Victoria Boyle, Schuyler, Virginia.

Beneath a sometimes gruff exterior, Dick was an optimist committed to social justice and environmental responsibility. He believed a better world was possible and he lived his life according to his beliefs.

Visitation, Saturday May 1, from 2-4 at A H Brown’s Funeral Home, , 5 McFarlane St. Springhill (902-597-2361).  There will be a gathering to celebrate his life later in the spring at the family home.

No flowers, please.  Donations may be made to the Ecology Action Centre, Halifax or to its farmland protection division, Heliotrust.

www.brownsfuneralhome.com

“To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival.”

Wendell Berry

“I had a lover’s quarrel with the world.”

Robert Frost