Richard Varney Obituary

Richard Varney attended Garden City High School in Garden City, NY. View the obituary, post a memory, or share a photo about Richard Varney.

Graduation Year	Class of 1980
Date of Passing	May 28, 2018
About	Former Garden City resident Richard Varney passed away peacefully in Quiogue, New York on Memorial Day, May 28th, 2018, after a protracted battle with colon cancer. He was fifty-five years old. Richard was one of the most formidable intellects ever to pass through the Garden City public school system, graduating from Garden City High School as valedictorian of the Class of 1980 with a list of honors too long to recount here. Following high school, Richard matriculated at Harvard University, from which he graduated cum laude with a degree in general studies. After Harvard, he took his considerable talents to the policy world, first as an assistant to a Massachusetts’ state legislator and later to Capitol Hill as a member of the staff of Sid Morrison, a six term Congressman from Washington State. Richard then transitioned to the private sector, spending several years working for Manpower, Inc., a multinational placement agency, before spending his final years as a freelance writer. Not surprisingly, Richard devoted a good deal of time to his intense love of books and literature, particularly poetry. In recent years, he resided on Shelter Island, where he had spent summers as a youth. In addition to his writing, Richard was passionate about his leadership of the Art Barnett Poetry Roundtable at the Shelter Island Public Library, guiding that group through selections of poetry, some of which came from his own extensive collection and featured many of his personal favorites, including Pound, Auden, Stevens, Lowell and Moore. The group was recently renamed The Art Rich Poetry Group in honor of Richard. He is survived by his mother Florence Varney, the former longtime truancy officer at Garden City High School, and his sister Caroline Varney, both of Shelter Island. (Source: Garden City News 7/12/2018)