Michael John O’Connell ’65

Michael John O’Connell ’65 died at his home in Baraboo, Wisconsin, on January 8. Mike was born in the nation’s capital and attended the Surrattsville School in southern Maryland, where he excelled. He graduated first in his class, played quarterback on the football team and helped the basketball team win four conference championships and the state title in 1960. He was named to the All-Metropolitan Washington team in 1961. At Dartmouth Mike again excelled inside the classroom and out. He graduated with highest distinction in English, being admitted to Phi Beta Kappa. He also played basketball for four years, was a member of Casque & Gauntlet and Kappa Sigma. He earned a master’s degree in American literature at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1966. He taught generations of young people to share his love of writing and literature at Baraboo High School from 1966 until 1978. He then, in a classically Renaissance manner, took up dairy farming, while continuing to write. After 15 years of farming he took up reporting for the Baraboo News Republic. In 1997 he became editor at the Baraboo Sun and later the Sauk Prairie Eagle. His books include Rt. 4 Baraboo, My Bucket’s Got a Hole In It and Cloud of Light: Portrait of a College Teacher. His essays appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education, the Wisconsin Academy Review, the Steinbeck Review and Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. He is survived by his wife, Sharon, son Daniel, mother Gwendolyn, sister Kathleen and brothers Patrick, Tim, Kevin and Sean.