Farnham D. “Mike” Blair
Farnham “Mike” Denton Blair died on August 11, 2026 of pancreatic cancer. On January 16, 2027, he would have been 84. He is survived by his wife of nearly 60 years, Lynne, his best friend and the love of his life. Also surviving are his two beloved daughters, Sarah Peachey Blair Vernon of Mint Hill, NC and Emily Farnham Blair, D.C. of Albuquerque, NM. And by one delightful grandchild, Ansley Lynne Reeves, of Rochester, NH.
Mike was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Robert Farnham Blair, who worked in intelligence, and Anne Meem Peachy Denton Blair, who was the first woman to be chief Washington correspondent of a television network. Mike spent 14 school years on the National Cathedral close – nursery through grade 3 at Beauvoir, his all-time favorite school, and then St. Albans, grades 4 through 12.
During his childhood, Mike lived first in the Kalorama District, constantly exploring Rock Creek Park, and then in Georgetown, hiking the towpath of the C&O canal. In early summer, he taught swimming and tennis. In late summer, beginning when he was five, he, his mother, and his favorite grandmother, Eliza Campbell Russell Peachy Denton, went to Maine, first to Little Cranberry Island and then to Haven Colony in Brooklin. Mike adored Maine, and he lived there year-round on the Blue Hill Peninsula from age 30 to 77.
After taking an undergraduate degree in English at Yale (1965), Mike went to work as a Research Assistant at the National Collection of Fine Arts (now the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American Art), where the high points were learning to drive a diesel forklift in the 24th Street warehouse and, most importantly, meeting his future wife, Lynne, who was Assistant Registrar.
Soon after his marriage, Mike enrolled at Georgetown University and earned a Master’s Degree in English (1969). From there, he and Lynne started moving north. The first stop was the Millbrook School, where Mike was an English teacher and dorm master for five years, and where Sarah and Emily were born in nearby Sharon, CT, in 1968 and 1971. Mike also taught writing at Dutchess Community College, and volunteered to teach poetry in Greenhaven Prison, Stormville, NY. The prisoners at Greenhaven were Mike’s all-time favorite students. They were among the best-motivated of the 2,000 incarcerated men, and, as one of them told Mike, “we have a lot of time to think.”
In 1974, Mike and his family moved to Brooklin, year-round. For six years, he taught at George Stevens Academy in Blue Hill. From 1980 until his retirement, Mike taught English at Orono High School.
Over the years, Mike did volunteer work with numerous organizations. He was an ambulance attendant with the Orono Rescue Squad, and belonged to the Brooklin Fire Department. For 20 years, he was the chair of the Yale Alumni School Committee for the northern half of Maine. He also served on the boards of Friend Memorial Library, Kneisel Hall, Colloquy Downeast, and Acadia Wildlife Foundation, where he volunteered as an animal rehabilitator as well.
Mike was an avid hiker and tennis player, and liked to be outdoors every day possible. He was the author of five books – two of poetry, two of essays about art, and one childhood memoir.