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Ruth Settling Grinspoon ’55

September 4, 2018, in Aspen, Colorado.

Ruth was born in Vienna, Austria, to American parents who were working to defeat General Francisco Franco. Raised in Greenwich Village in New York City, she attended the Little Red School House. She started her college education at Reed, but finished at UC Berkeley with a bachelor’s in anthropology. In 1973, she earned her master’s in library science at Pratt Institute.

She married Kenneth Grinspoon and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Jennifer. Ruth later said, “It was not a successful marriage.” She worked first as a teacher and then as a librarian for the New York City Board of Education, always in Manhattan. Going to the Aspen Music Festival durinwwg her sabbatical 27 years ago, she could often only afford to stand outside the tent. In more recent and secure times, she wouldn’t miss concerts from her seat inside. Ruth split her retirement between her Chelsea apartment, Aspen, and traveling. She never purchased an Aspen property, staying at the Holland House, the St. Moritz, and finally at the Hearthstone. At all of these residences she met dear friends and earned her uncounted flyer miles pursuing them, especially in Australia. She loved to ski, and scuba diving was a passion.

Appeared in Reed magazine: March 2018

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