Lewis Carter Cuyler, of Pittsfield, died peacefully from end stage Alzheimer's Disease at his home on November 3, 2017. Lew was born in New York City in 1933, the eldest of five children born to Lewis Baker Cuyler of Princeton, NJ and Margery Merrill Cuyler formerly of Stockbridge, MA. He attended South Kent School from 1947-1951 and Amherst College from 1951-1955. Lew married Jane Warren Cuyler in 1960. They had two children, Juliana (1961) and Alexander (1963) while residing in Williamstown. Lew and Jane subsequently divorced. Later, Lew married his beloved wife, Harriet Buechner Cuyler in 1975.
Lew was a long-time resident of, and an honest to goodness champion for Berkshire County. He first arrived in the Berkshires in 1958 looking for a job in his chosen career of journalism. He began an over twenty year career with the Transcript which culminated with the position of Executive Editor. He fell in love with North Adams and worked tirelessly to improve the community, bringing attention to the value of urban trees, gateways, and its history. He was particularly interested in the impact the Hoosac Tunnel had on the development of North Adams, and was one of the founders of the Hoosac Tunnel museum. Mr. Cuyler also taught journalism classes at UMass and the former North Adams State College.
In 1980, Mr. Cuyler resigned his position at the Transcript over a disagreement with the new management. After being informed that it would be his job to reduce the number of employees at the paper, he refused. This cost him his own position, and was indicative of the selflessness that embodied his life. He went on to develop his own business, Cuyler Ink, in which he provided freelance writing services and sound slide shows. A self-titled "Newspaper Animal", he possessed unmatched typing skills and he regularly wrote stories in one draft with no misspellings after consulting his reporter's notebooks filled with unintelligible (to others) notes.
In 1987, Mr. Cuyler jumped at an offer from the Berkshire Eagle to become Business Editor. He was perfectly suited for this chapter of his life, as his ability to understand business and his people skills combined to produce stories that allowed readers of the Eagle to better understand the economic forces driving Pittsfield. He continued to write a weekly ski column and was a member of the New England Ski Writers Association for many years. In his later years, he longed to write a book about the transformation of Pittsfield's economy dominated by General Electric to a city that had to reinvent itself after GE moved most of its operations elsewhere. He was utterly captivated by the community's developing leadership and sense of self that allowed it to begin to flourish in spite of such a huge employment loss.
He authored several books during his life, including "Short Bike Rides in the Berkshires" and "Ernestine Bayer, the Mother of Women's Rowing" in the United States", as well as co-authoring "Skiing in the Berkshire Hills", with Lauren Stephens. These books reflected his other true love, recreating in his beloved Berkshires. He also self -published his memoirs entitled "On Being a Human Verb", which is available at the Berkshire Athenaeum history department. Lew was an avid cross country and downhill skier, a cyclist, and lover of "messing around in boats" (quote from the water rat in Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows"). He had honed his skiing skills in Europe while stationed in Stuttgart, Germany. He knew exactly how many ski runs he could put in at Jiminy Peak and still make it to work at the Berkshire Eagle by 11AM, even to the point of having his tie on under his ski parka in order to maximize his time on the slopes.
Upon retiring from the Eagle, he rekindled his love for rowing which harkened back to his prep school and college days. He had purchased a single "shell" from a cousin, and another career blossomed in which he sold rowing shells and founded the Berkshire Sculling Association (BRASS). He was the driving force in the restoration of an aged building on the shores of Onota Lake that is now full of rowing shells and was dedicated as the Cuyler Boathouse in 2001. Besides teaching and coaching the sport, Mr. Cuyler competed in regional rowing races and seven international rowing events. He and Harriet were well known names in the Masters Division.
Mr. Cuyler's dedication to the Berkshires was only interrupted by the births of four grandchildren in Oregon, and in seeking more regular contact with them, he and Harriet moved to Hood River, Oregon during winters. He fell in love with the grandeur of the Cascade Mountains, and often skied on and around Mt. Hood.
Mr. Cuyler is survived by his loving wife of 42 years, Harriet, and two children, Alexander Cuyler (Diana) of Pleasant Hill, OR and Juliana Cuyler Dolan (Joe) of Hood River, OR. Also four grandchildren who miss him, Delia Jane Dolan, Daisy Mary Dolan, Lily Alexandra Cuyler, and Elias Anthony Cuyler. He is also survived by two sisters, Juliana McIntyre Fenn and Margery Cuyler Perkins, and a brother, George Grenville Cuyler, all of New Jersey. A brother, David LeRoy Cuyler, and his ex-wife, Jane Cuyler predeceased him.

FUNERAL NOTICE: A memorial service for Lewis C. Cuyler will be held at 2:00 pm Sunday, November 12, 2017 at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Park Square, Pittsfield. A reception, including remembrances, will follow in the Guild Room at St. Stephen's. Lew's cremated remains will be interred in Princeton, NJ in the spring. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Alzheimer's Association: Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter, PO Box 96011, Washington, DC 20090-6011.

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