Norah Deakin Davis

Norah Deakin Davis, age 84, died on May 4 at her home at Tryon Estates in Columbus, North Carolina.

She was the daughter of Dr. Rogers and Dorothy Deakin and the widow of Richard Slaton Davis, Ph.D.

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Norah graduated from Washington University and taught philosophy at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the University of Tennessee, and the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, where her late husband was vice-president.

She was the author of several books: The Father of Waters: A Mississippi River Chronicle, published by Sierra Club Books in 1982 and condensed in Reader’s Digest in 1984; At Home in the Sun, published by Garden Way Publishing in 1979; and book length manuscripts for National Geographic, The Nature Conservancy, and the White House. More recently, she turned her hand to fiction, publishing two exciting climate change novels: Time’s Up and Safe Haven. Norah’s feature articles appeared in Backpacker, Canoe, and other magazines. As a member of the steering committee of the Rice Street Community Garden in Brevard, she wrote several articles about the garden for The Transylvania Times.

Norah worked for many years for ICF International, where she wrote about climate change for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and later was editor of Public Roads magazine for the Federal Highway Administration, a post in which she served for several years. Before that, Norah was editor-in-chief of People, Land & Water newspaper for the U.S. Department of the Interior, Rouge magazine, Renewable Resources Journal, and Maine magazine and held associate and managing editorial positions at Down East magazine and American Forests conservation magazine.

Norah received awards from the International Association of Business Communication, the Public Relations Society of America, the Natural Resources Council of America, and the National Federation of Press Women. Norah served as a member of the Brevard Planning Board, Brevard College Board of Visitors, the Sierra Club Executive Committee, the Transylvania County Transportation, and as president of the Deer Track Homeowner’s Association.

In 2018, Norah moved from Brevard, North Carolina, to Tryon Estates, in Columbus, NC. There, she served on numerous committees but was best known as the Editor in Chief of the community’s newsletter Mountain Views. She interviewed every new resident for their biography in the newsletter so it is safe to say that she knew everyone at Tryon Estates, and they knew her. She attended almost every community event so she could cover it for the newsletter. She participated in many activities and loved exercising in pool.

Norah is survived by her niece, Elizabeth Coggins of St. Louis, Missouri, and her nephews, Douglas Deakin of Blacksburg, Virginia, Dan Deakin of Reston, Virginia, and David Deakin of Arlington, Massachusetts, as well as a number of great and great-great nieces and nephews.

A Celebration of Life service for Norah will be held in the chapel at Tryon Estates, in Columbus, North Carolina, on Friday, June 5, at 1:00 p.m. A graveside committal service will be held the following day, Saturday, June 6, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Paul’s-in-the-Valley in Brevard, North Carolina.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Rice Street Community Garden, care of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, 256 E. Main Street, Brevard, N.C. 28712, where Norah was an active member for many years, or to the Tryon Estates Samaritan Fund.

Other condolences may be left on the website of the Moore-Blanchard Funeral Home in

Brevard. www.memorialplanning.com