As the grandson of American impressionist J. Alden Weir, he organized and championed Weir Farm, Connecticut’s first National Historic Park, as well as the Weir Farm Art Alliance and its Artist-in-Residence program, all sited on his grandfather’s land in Wilton, Connecticut. His own watercolors reflected his love of those pastoral places where he and his brother spent many happy days.He was a lover of literature, especially Shakespeare, and poetry—much of it memorized from childhood (Kipling, Keats, Shelley, Housman, Masefield, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, to name just a few). He collected stamps and coins from age 8, which sparked his lifelong love of history and a seemingly insatiable appetite for works on the British Empire and the American Civil War. He was also an accomplished musician, a formidable tennis player, an avid sports fan, and a patron of the arts.A gifted pianist, he played a vast array of music from Bach and Chopin to Gershwin, Joplin, Cole Porter, Tin Pan Alley, Gilbert & Sullivan and Broadway musicals, and popular songs from the 1930s and beyond, regaling friends and family with spontaneous renditions, providing attentive accompaniment to those who would sing along with him. He could play almost anything by ear.He formed and cherished many friendships, some lasting nine decades. He and his wife, Adair M. Storey, always welcomed family and friends (and their children’s friends, and grandchildren’s friends) from far and near to their homes. In his later years, he transcribed ancestral Weir family letters, researched genealogy, and published an endearing memoir. Master of the shaggy dog story, his deft humor and turn of phrase always made us laugh. He loved music and food, books, movies, Boston sports teams, and dogs. Thanks Charlie, for helping to make Weir Farm a national treasure.
