Williamsburg, Mass. and Blue Hill
Elizabeth (Betsey) Wanning Harries of Williamsburg, Mass., and Blue Hill died at home surrounded by family on Sept. 8 following her cancer diagnosis 8½ years ago.
The daughter of Henry Francis and Elizabeth Marvin Wanning, Betsey spent her childhood in southern Connecticut, Philadelphia and Blue Hill. Known on Blue Hill Bay for her deft seamanship, she shared her love of sailing with her family. By nature modest about her accomplishments, she was never more proud than when a noted Blue Hill waterman saw her beat home to her mooring in a screaming northwest wind and said, “That Wanning girl sure can sail.”
A talented musician, Betsey studied piano with Artur Balsam at Kneisel Hall Chamber Music School in Blue Hill and at the Aspen Festival with Leonard Shure. She became a lifelong enthusiast for Kneisel Hall’s summer chamber music festival, was known to attend every one of its concerts and events — listening intently to marathon young artist concerts and making mounds of potato salad for its picnics — and was a devoted member of its board until this past summer.
Betsey attended Vassar College and then went on to graduate school in comparative literature at Yale University, while simultaneously raising her three children from her first marriage to Karsten Harries in Hamden, Conn. After receiving her Ph.D. from Yale, she began teaching English and comparative literature at Smith College in 1974. She later served as chair of the Smith English Department and was named Helen and Laura Shedd Professor of Modern Languages. A scholar of European literature of the 18th century, Betsey published books and articles, focusing particularly on Laurence Sterne, the fragment, and on French women writers and the history of the fairy tale. Her dedication to teaching her students at Smith was profound.
She is survived by her spouse, Jennifer Whiting, her children Lisa Harries-Schumann, Peter J. Harries and Martin Harries, their spouses and six grandchildren. They will miss her tremendously, as will her other relatives and many, many friends.
Donations in Betsey’s memory may be made to Kneisel Hall Chamber Music School or to the Ada Comstock Scholars Program at Smith College or to the Blue Hill Public Library. Due to the COVID pandemic, services in Northampton and Blue Hill will be postponed until 2022.