Norman Klein tragically passed away on January 15, 2024. He had tenaciously battled Parkinson’s disease for the last several years, and finally succumbed to complications stemming from that illness.

Norm’s gift for language and passion for writing was a guiding force throughout his life. He attended the University of New Hampshire, where he nourished his love of poetry and fiction, forged lifelong friendships, and met his first wife, Susan. After graduating from UNH, Norm went on to complete his MFA at Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Throughout his career, his short stories and poems have appeared in Ploughshares and The Antioch Review, as well as numerous other local journals and anthologies.

He taught what he loved, first at Simmons College and then later at UMass Boston before accepting a teaching position at Harvard Business School. At HBS, Norm helped to research and author many of the cases that he presented in the classroom. That experience ultimately led to his leaving academia in Boston for the world of business consulting in Chicago, but not before meeting his second wife, Michele, at a poetry workshop in Hyannis.

Norm had always loved the lyricism and expressiveness of Jazz, and during his time in Chicago he took full advantage of the city’s thriving music scene, becoming a regular at the clubs and an enthusiastic fan of several up-and coming musicians. He and Michele came back East after Norm’s retirement, settling down in New Hampshire. Even in his 70’s, Norm still played tennis regularly and continued to both write and inspire younger authors in local writing workshops.

Norm’s family and friends will dearly miss his playful sense of humor, his love of storytelling, and his quiet generosity. He is survived by his current wife, Michele; first wife, Susan Raidy; three sisters, Joyce Perry, Millie Hussey, and Betsy Clementi; two adult children from his first marriage, Justine and Adrian; and three grandchildren, Christian, Sawyer, and Seneca. A loving extended family - including a dozen nieces and nephews - also mourns Norm’s passing.