BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Mark Chapman, 63, took his final bow Aug. 15, 2016, dying suddenly due to a brief illness.
Mark was born in Hyannis, Mass., June 27, 1953, the son of the late Carl W. and Martha C. Chapman. He met his wife, Nancy (Guenther), at the Smithville Theater in New Jersey in 1976 and they married a year later.
Alternately saying “I’m like a shark – if I stop moving I’ll die,” and “They can’t hit a moving target,” Mark moved around the East Coast, first for theater jobs, then with newspapers. Both careers had their roots on Cape Cod. Mark’s father built the original Cape Cod Music Circus for Broadway legend Gertrude Lawrence and her producer (and later ambassador) husband, Richard Aldrich, in 1950. The theater became the Cape Cod Melody Tent in 1954, and Mark spent the first 20 summers of his life there – “It was my summer camp,” he would say. He followed his father’s lead and became widely recognized as a tent theater expert, both as a hands-on rigger and a day-to-day operations manager. Despite a break in 1973 when he began a four-year association with Chateau de Ville Dinner Theaters, he continued his association with the CCMT through 1993 – 40 years.
His news career would take Mark and his family to papers in Vero Beach and Sarasota, Fla., Wilmington, N.C., North Myrtle Beach, S.C., Vineland, N.J. and Norwalk, Conn., as it was common to move around in the business. His favorite, though, was the 12 years he spent with The Boston Herald, first in news, then as travel and books editor. That job opened up the door to taking 40-plus cruises and becoming the Herald’s self-described “cruise and tacky beachside resort writer.”
As the newspaper business crumbled, Mark and Nancy and their talented artist son, Eric, started a news website when hyperlocal sites were in their infancy. EnglewoodEdge.com was quickly popular, but the failing economy made it untenable as a sustainable job. After moving to Norwalk, Conn., for two more jobs with failing media outlets, the family began NancyOnNorwalk.com, with Mark as editor, Nancy as reporter and Eric as designer. The site clicked, the accolades grew and the community credited the site with changing the discourse in the city and holding public officials accountable.
Mark is survived by his wife and partner, Nancy, of Norwalk, Conn.; his son, Eric, of Norwalk, of whom he was most proud; a brother, David, of Hyannis Port, Mass.; brothers-in-law Clarence (Valerie) Guenther of Virginia and Michael (Letitia-Paul) Guenther of New Jersey; mother-in-law Eileen Guenther of Cologne, N.J.; and several nieces and nephews.
He was pre-deceased by his parents, a brother, Peter, and sister, Carol.
Contributor: MJK (50042810)
Mark was born in Hyannis, Mass., June 27, 1953, the son of the late Carl W. and Martha C. Chapman. He met his wife, Nancy (Guenther), at the Smithville Theater in New Jersey in 1976 and they married a year later.
Alternately saying “I’m like a shark – if I stop moving I’ll die,” and “They can’t hit a moving target,” Mark moved around the East Coast, first for theater jobs, then with newspapers. Both careers had their roots on Cape Cod. Mark’s father built the original Cape Cod Music Circus for Broadway legend Gertrude Lawrence and her producer (and later ambassador) husband, Richard Aldrich, in 1950. The theater became the Cape Cod Melody Tent in 1954, and Mark spent the first 20 summers of his life there – “It was my summer camp,” he would say. He followed his father’s lead and became widely recognized as a tent theater expert, both as a hands-on rigger and a day-to-day operations manager. Despite a break in 1973 when he began a four-year association with Chateau de Ville Dinner Theaters, he continued his association with the CCMT through 1993 – 40 years.
His news career would take Mark and his family to papers in Vero Beach and Sarasota, Fla., Wilmington, N.C., North Myrtle Beach, S.C., Vineland, N.J. and Norwalk, Conn., as it was common to move around in the business. His favorite, though, was the 12 years he spent with The Boston Herald, first in news, then as travel and books editor. That job opened up the door to taking 40-plus cruises and becoming the Herald’s self-described “cruise and tacky beachside resort writer.”
As the newspaper business crumbled, Mark and Nancy and their talented artist son, Eric, started a news website when hyperlocal sites were in their infancy. EnglewoodEdge.com was quickly popular, but the failing economy made it untenable as a sustainable job. After moving to Norwalk, Conn., for two more jobs with failing media outlets, the family began NancyOnNorwalk.com, with Mark as editor, Nancy as reporter and Eric as designer. The site clicked, the accolades grew and the community credited the site with changing the discourse in the city and holding public officials accountable.
Mark is survived by his wife and partner, Nancy, of Norwalk, Conn.; his son, Eric, of Norwalk, of whom he was most proud; a brother, David, of Hyannis Port, Mass.; brothers-in-law Clarence (Valerie) Guenther of Virginia and Michael (Letitia-Paul) Guenther of New Jersey; mother-in-law Eileen Guenther of Cologne, N.J.; and several nieces and nephews.
He was pre-deceased by his parents, a brother, Peter, and sister, Carol.
Contributor: MJK (50042810)
BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Mark Chapman, 63, took his final bow Aug. 15, 2016, dying suddenly due to a brief illness.
Mark was born in Hyannis, Mass., June 27, 1953, the son of the late Carl W. and Martha C. Chapman. He met his wife, Nancy (Guenther), at the Smithville Theater in New Jersey in 1976 and they married a year later.
Alternately saying “I’m like a shark – if I stop moving I’ll die,” and “They can’t hit a moving target,” Mark moved around the East Coast, first for theater jobs, then with newspapers. Both careers had their roots on Cape Cod. Mark’s father built the original Cape Cod Music Circus for Broadway legend Gertrude Lawrence and her producer (and later ambassador) husband, Richard Aldrich, in 1950. The theater became the Cape Cod Melody Tent in 1954, and Mark spent the first 20 summers of his life there – “It was my summer camp,” he would say. He followed his father’s lead and became widely recognized as a tent theater expert, both as a hands-on rigger and a day-to-day operations manager. Despite a break in 1973 when he began a four-year association with Chateau de Ville Dinner Theaters, he continued his association with the CCMT through 1993 – 40 years.
His news career would take Mark and his family to papers in Vero Beach and Sarasota, Fla., Wilmington, N.C., North Myrtle Beach, S.C., Vineland, N.J. and Norwalk, Conn., as it was common to move around in the business. His favorite, though, was the 12 years he spent with The Boston Herald, first in news, then as travel and books editor. That job opened up the door to taking 40-plus cruises and becoming the Herald’s self-described “cruise and tacky beachside resort writer.”
As the newspaper business crumbled, Mark and Nancy and their talented artist son, Eric, started a news website when hyperlocal sites were in their infancy. EnglewoodEdge.com was quickly popular, but the failing economy made it untenable as a sustainable job. After moving to Norwalk, Conn., for two more jobs with failing media outlets, the family began NancyOnNorwalk.com, with Mark as editor, Nancy as reporter and Eric as designer. The site clicked, the accolades grew and the community credited the site with changing the discourse in the city and holding public officials accountable.
Mark is survived by his wife and partner, Nancy, of Norwalk, Conn.; his son, Eric, of Norwalk, of whom he was most proud; a brother, David, of Hyannis Port, Mass.; brothers-in-law Clarence (Valerie) Guenther of Virginia and Michael (Letitia-Paul) Guenther of New Jersey; mother-in-law Eileen Guenther of Cologne, N.J.; and several nieces and nephews.
He was pre-deceased by his parents, a brother, Peter, and sister, Carol.
Contributor: MJK (50042810)
Mark was born in Hyannis, Mass., June 27, 1953, the son of the late Carl W. and Martha C. Chapman. He met his wife, Nancy (Guenther), at the Smithville Theater in New Jersey in 1976 and they married a year later.
Alternately saying “I’m like a shark – if I stop moving I’ll die,” and “They can’t hit a moving target,” Mark moved around the East Coast, first for theater jobs, then with newspapers. Both careers had their roots on Cape Cod. Mark’s father built the original Cape Cod Music Circus for Broadway legend Gertrude Lawrence and her producer (and later ambassador) husband, Richard Aldrich, in 1950. The theater became the Cape Cod Melody Tent in 1954, and Mark spent the first 20 summers of his life there – “It was my summer camp,” he would say. He followed his father’s lead and became widely recognized as a tent theater expert, both as a hands-on rigger and a day-to-day operations manager. Despite a break in 1973 when he began a four-year association with Chateau de Ville Dinner Theaters, he continued his association with the CCMT through 1993 – 40 years.
His news career would take Mark and his family to papers in Vero Beach and Sarasota, Fla., Wilmington, N.C., North Myrtle Beach, S.C., Vineland, N.J. and Norwalk, Conn., as it was common to move around in the business. His favorite, though, was the 12 years he spent with The Boston Herald, first in news, then as travel and books editor. That job opened up the door to taking 40-plus cruises and becoming the Herald’s self-described “cruise and tacky beachside resort writer.”
As the newspaper business crumbled, Mark and Nancy and their talented artist son, Eric, started a news website when hyperlocal sites were in their infancy. EnglewoodEdge.com was quickly popular, but the failing economy made it untenable as a sustainable job. After moving to Norwalk, Conn., for two more jobs with failing media outlets, the family began NancyOnNorwalk.com, with Mark as editor, Nancy as reporter and Eric as designer. The site clicked, the accolades grew and the community credited the site with changing the discourse in the city and holding public officials accountable.
Mark is survived by his wife and partner, Nancy, of Norwalk, Conn.; his son, Eric, of Norwalk, of whom he was most proud; a brother, David, of Hyannis Port, Mass.; brothers-in-law Clarence (Valerie) Guenther of Virginia and Michael (Letitia-Paul) Guenther of New Jersey; mother-in-law Eileen Guenther of Cologne, N.J.; and several nieces and nephews.
He was pre-deceased by his parents, a brother, Peter, and sister, Carol.
Contributor: MJK (50042810)
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