Nathan A. “Mike” Haverstock

Nathan A. “Mike” Haverstock, age 88, died after a brief illness on January 19, 2020, at the Vermont Veterans Home in Bennington, Vermont. Mike was born on May 18, 1931, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the youngest of six children of Henry and Catherine Haverstock. He attended the Shattuck Military Academy in Faribault, Minnesota, and graduated from Harvard College in 1953, with a degree in Classics. In college, he met Mary Grover Sayre (who was attending Radcliffe College). They were married on May 22, 1954, in Princeton, New Jersey. After college and a stint in the U.S. Army, Mike embarked on a writing and editing career in Washington, D.C., including positions at the Hispanic Foundation in the Library of Congress, The Saturday Evening Post, and the Organization of American States — work that frequently brought him overseas on assignment. He subsequently worked as a freelance journalist and consultant in Latin American affairs. He went on to spend many happy retirement years in the college town of Oberlin, Ohio, with his wife Mary. Mike was a devoted student of history and lover of books. He authored a number of books, including Give Us This Day: The Story of Sister Dulce, the Angel of Bahia; The Alliance for Progress: Key to Latin America’s Development; Fifty Years at the Front: The Life of War Correspondent Frederick Palmer; and Brazil: The Making of a Nation; and a number of books on Latin American countries as part of the Visual Geography Series. Mike was also a regular contributor of articles to The World Book Encyclopedia. Mike is survived by his children Rose Stadick (John), Dan Haverstock (Claire), Julia Poll (Jon), John Haverstock and Gwendolyn Freed (Ken), by his brother James, and by his grandchildren Eliza Haverstock, Nathan Haverstock, Zoey Poll, Zachary Freed, Eleanor Freed and Jonah Freed. Mike was predeceased by his sisters Mary (who died in childhood) and Laura H. Miles, brothers Henry and Charles, and his loving wife of 57 years, Mary S. Haverstock. There will be no funeral and Mike’s ashes will be returned to the earth. Anyone wishing to honor Mike’s memory may make donations in his name to the Vermont Veterans Home at 325 North Street, Bennington, Vermont 05201.