Eugene Talbot

Eugene Talbot, a self-described “Bronx street-kid” who moved to the Berkshires in 1954 as a staff psychologist at the Austin Riggs Center and went on to become Chair of the Stockbridge Selectman, a Planning Board member and Chair of the Laurel Hill Association, died October 12 at his home surrounded by his loving family.

He and his wife, Shirley Hyman Talbot who died in 2018, first met in 1944 at a dance sponsored by the City College of New York, which both were attending. Each recalled that moment as “love at first sight” which lasted for 71 years including a joint couples’ therapy practice in Pittsfield and Stockbridge for 30 years.

The initial college courtship was shortened by World War II. Three months after the thunderbolt moment at the dance, Gene graduated from CCNY and joined the Navy. He served for two years, including deploying in the Pacific Theater aboard the USS Attu.

Promptly after Gene left the Navy in July 1946, he and Shirley married on February 1, 1947, just shy of their 21 ^st birthdays. A week later, they set out for Los Angeles where they enrolled in UCLA with Gene pursuing a degree in psychology. He trained at UCLA facilities and at the Veterans Administration hospital at Brentwood, CA. He received PhD from the University in 1954. While in Los Angeles, their eldest child, Jo Anne, was born in 1951.

During his studies at UCLA, Gene attended a lecture by a renowned psychologist from the Austen Riggs Center. He applied to Austen Riggs and upon receiving his degree, the Talbots moved to Stockbridge where Gene became a Fellow. The Talbots put down roots and their sons, Andy and Bill, were born in Stockbridge.

Gene became deeply involved in both his work and the town. He frequently appeared before various civic organizations to share his expertise, provided pro bono psychological services to organizations ranging from a free clinic in Stockbridge to aid at the Pittsfield jail. He left Austen Riggs after 15 years and in 1969 established his private practice in Pittsfield. He provided psychological counseling services at Williams College for 15 years.

He was active in town affairs as president of the Laurel Hill Association, Chair of the Stockbridge Democratic Town Committee and member of the original regional school district planning committee in the early 1960s. He prepared much-praised oral histories of elderly Stockbridge residents’ memories of the “old days” of Stockbridge.

He tried his hand at electoral politics in the 1960s, twice losing for School Committee. Those efforts earned him an April 8, 1967 Eagle profile headlined, “The Man Who Doesn’t Get Elected.”

Proving the pundits wrong 25 years later, he was elected Stockbridge Selectman in 1992, becoming the first new member of the board in 10 years. He was reelected in 1994 and 1997 and became Chairman in 1997. He served until 2000.

In 2006, he jumped back into public service, winning election to the town Planning Board where he served for a decade. Among his proudest achievements was the establishment of the Talbot Center for Good Stuff at the Stockbridge Landfill.

Despite his heavy professional and civic workload, Gene also found time for poker and world travel. He co-founded a weekly South County poker game 50 years ago that continues to the present. Even as his eyesight and hearing faded in recent years, Gene continued to play and win, much to the puzzlement and consternation of his poker buddies. He also taught Shirley to turn a card and they played in a “tamer” weekly game with other couples for nearly three decades.

He and Shirley were dedicated foreign travelers, visiting some 55 countries and returning with vivid stories, and gifts, from the spots they visited in all corners of the world. They often combined travel and poker playing in exotic spots around the world, ranging from a yurt in China to the shadow of the Pyramids in Egypt to houseboats on Lake Champlain.

Even more than work, poker and traveling, Gene made time for family. He was born in 1926 in New York City to Joseph and Gussie Skolnik Tabachnick. He is survived by his children, JoAnne Ginsberg and her husband Benjamin Ginsberg of Washington, D.C., Andy Talbot and his wife Amy Johnson of Stockbridge, and William Talbot and his wife Andrea Talbot of Lee; his niece, Karen Shreefter and her husband Christopher Blair of Monterey; his nephew, Jonathon Loy and his husband Chris Riggleman of Monterey, and grandchildren Josh Ginsberg and his wife Joahn Ginsberg of Mill Valley, CA, Rebecca Rutkoff and her husband Robby Rutkoff of Brooklyn, NY, Jessica Talbot of Brooklyn, NY, Hannah Talbot of Bethesda, MD,  and great-grandchildren Zachery, Henry, Ella, and Adam as well as numerous beloved nieces and nephews.

He and Shirley reveled in bringing their city-dwelling grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews to “Camp Talbot” in Stockbridge, where Gene instilled in them a piece of advice by which he told them he led his life: “Have an adventure a day.” He and Shirley made sure they did.

SERVICES – A graveside memorial service honoring the lives of Gene and Shirley will be held on Tuesday, November 23, 2021 at 12 noon at the Stockbridge Cemetery located on the corner of Main Street and Church Street in Stockbridge, MA.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Elder Services of the Berkshires for Meals on Wheels or the Laurel Hill Association through Finnerty & Stevens Funeral Home, 426 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA 01230. Please send remembrances for the family to www.finnertyandstevens.com