March 31, 2023

In Remembrance: Martin Morse Wooster’80, writer, researcher, BSFFA co-founder

Martin Morse Wooster’80, a writer, editor, researcher, and founding member of the Beloit Science Fiction & Fantasy Association (BSFFA), was killed on Nov. 12, 2022, in a hit-and-run accident in Williamsburg, Va.

Martin Wooster'80 Martin Morse Wooster’80
Credit: Photo courtesy of Philanthropy Daily
Wooster’s encyclopedic knowledge ranged from baseball to beer to philanthropy to science fiction. He was a senior fellow at the Capital Research Center, a think tank established to study charitable foundations’ missions and activities. Wooster wrote three books and many monographs about philanthropy, specifically on the issue of donor intent. He regularly contributed to Philanthropy Daily, and his articles about many subjects and reviews appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Reason, and The American Spectator. He reviewed scores of science fiction books.

A voracious reader, he scoured media sources to discover Beloit alumni accomplishments in the news. Over decades, he sent countless notices to this magazine, whenever he spotted a mention of the college or of a graduate. Before he started emailing them, these tips arrived year after year in stamped envelopes that included a paper clipping or an entire magazine, usually with a typed letter, hand-signed “Yours, Martin.”

After Wooster died, it became clear that Beloit College Magazine was not the only recipient of his generous volunteer research. His friend, John J. Miller, a National Review correspondent, wrote that Wooster started a “peculiar tradition” of sending him notes whenever he spotted a John Miller in the news. “Along the way, I learned about hordes of people with whom I share a name,” Miller wrote. “They included loads of criminals and at least one person who attended a Star Trek convention as a Klingon.” Later, when Miller published a book, Wooster sent him every mention of it, even footnotes. “I think it was Martin’s way of saying that my writing mattered — an act of kindness that might even be a form of philanthropy,” Miller wrote in a tribute column.

A serious baseball aficionado, Wooster closely followed the sport and the careers of affiliated Beloiters, including John Thorn’68, Major League Baseball’s official historian, and Joe Davis’10, play-by-play broadcast announcer for the L.A. Dodgers. Fellow beer enthusiast Alexander Mitchell posted a remembrance of his friend on Facebook that began, “There are drinking buddies, and there are thinking buddies.” He said of Wooster: “If you are lucky, you get blessed with both at the same time.” Professor Emeritus Tom McBride wrote that Wooster had “an outrageous wit” and was “one of Beloit’s great writing and reporting success stories.”

Wooster majored in history and philosophy. He was a proud founding member and lifelong advocate for BSFFA, a perennially popular student organization. He is survived by a sister. 


Also In This Issue

  • David Myers’49

    In Remembrance: David Myers’49, champion of entrepreneurship

    more
  • Beloiter Days broke attendance records last October, bringing together more than 750 people for Homecoming, Reunion, and Family & Friends Weekend and making up for time lost during the pandemic.

    Reunion weekend boasts largest attendance ever

    more
  • Djuvane Browne’04

    Four outstanding alumni athletes get top honors at Beloiter Days

    more
  • A major grant will expand the reach of the Center for Collections Care, a college-run professional development program for those who work with collections. The high quality of the Wright Museum of Art, College Archives, and Logan Museum of Anthropology collections, shown here, made possible the program’s launch in 2018.

    NEH grant boosts collections care training program

    more

This site uses cookies to improve your experience. Read our Web Privacy Policy for more information.

Got it! ×