Robin St John Conover

Robin St. John Conover, formerly Robin St. John Row, of Manchester, NH, died Thursday, Oct. 16 of complications associated with COPD. A graduate of Smith College, A.B. 1991, and the University of Victoria in British Columbia, M.A. 1992, PhD 1999, her doctoral thesis investigated Charlotte Bronte's psychological development through the author's writings. Robin was 64. Born on Jan. 2, 1944 to Richard and Anne Row in Vista, CA, she moved often in her younger years because of her father??s military service. Eventually, Robin and her three siblings settled in Solebury, PA, where her father had previously taught English at the Solebury School. Robin attended Solebury through her junior year before transferring to the public school system. She was granted an honorary degree from Solebury in 1986. During her teen years, Robin attended Northway Lodge, a camp for girls in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario. There, she acquired a love of the outdoors, and for canoeing in particular, which she maintained throughout her lifetime. Aspiring to be an actress, Robin acted in local theater productions, including the McCarter Theater in Princeton, NJ, and the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, PA, once sharing the stage with a young Robert Redford. After high school, Robin spent time in New York City, San Francisco and Key West. Always an independent spirit, she traveled to Europe on a Yugoslavian freighter, making her way across the continent by hitchhiking alone. In her twenties, Robin worked for a time as a model, appearing on the cover of the Chicago Tribune Magazine in 1967 and in a spread in Bride?s magazine in 1970. Robin married Peter Conover in 1968. The couple moved to northern Vermont where they restored a dilapidated ski lodge in Jay Peak. The Conovers ran the lodge for a number of years until the marriage ended in divorce. Robin moved to Woodstock, VT, where she worked as a journalist at The Vermont Standard. It was at this point that Robin discovered her passion for writing. She penned a novel, yet unpublished, and many short stories during this period and continued to write for the remainder of her life. In 1986, Robin entered Smith College as an Ada Comstock scholar, obtaining her Bachelor of Arts in 1991 with a dual major in English and Music. She continued her studies at University of Victoria. As she was working toward her graduate degrees she had the opportunity to teach many undergraduate and graduate level classes and discovered her love and talent for teaching as well as writing. She also volunteered her time teaching Creative Writing to inmates at a nearby prison. Her doctoral thesis, "Growing up in Glasstown: An Investigation of Charlotte Brontë's Individuation through her Juvenilia," attempts to show, using Charlotte's writings, Jungian psychology and Hegelian dialectic, how the author overcame her abusive family dynamics through her writings and the children's imaginary African paradise, Angria. Just a week after completing her doctoral degree, Robin suffered a debilitating stroke. Shortly thereafter, she returned to the U.S., residing in New Hampshire until her death. Survivors include a son, Timothy Jacob McCutchen, of Charlotte, NC; a daughter, Rachel Conover Loreto, of Bethesda, MD; and five grandchildren. She is also survived by three siblings, Richard Row, of Madison, WI; Deborah Row, of Washington, DC, and Stephen Row, of Buxton, ME. The family plans a memorial service off the coast of Maine in the spring of 2009. Gifts can be giving in Robin's memory to Families In Transition in Manchester, New Hampshire, the organization which helped care for her in her last years -- www.fitnh.org.