Sidney Leavitt Hall, Jr

Sidney Leavitt Hall Jr. of Tuftonboro, New Hampshire passed away at his home on July 29, 2025.

Born in 1951 to Sidney and Betty Hall, Sid lived most of his life in Brookline, New Hampshire, with a few years in Portland, Oregon, where he studied Classics at Reed College and where he learned to pronounce ‘Oregon’ correctly.

Sid ran a printing business called Stonehouse Press and published a local conservation newsletter called Our Place. Sid was an editor, typesetter, and book designer and publisher. He founded Hobblebush Books and Hobblebush Design in 1995.

He married Margaret Hall had two children and several grandchildren. He had a bug for good books, and for skiing, hiking, sailing, gardening and cooking. He studied Greek, Latin, German, Russian, and French. He was a drummer in a rock band and Dixieland band and did a brief gig on timpani. He once did a tour of Europe paying his way by playing the autoharp. He always loved carpentry and working with his hands and called himself a “jackass of all trades.”

Sid wrote columns and articles in local newspapers. His poetry was published in literary journals, and he authored four books of poetry and a memoir. Sid also edited a history of Brookline, New Hampshire.

He was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) in 2015 and progressed over 10 years from walking with a cane to riding on a motorized chair named Donkey. He frequently pointed out that the letters ALS stand for: “American Lobster Society,” of which he was a proud member.

As Sid said, ALS concentrates the mind. He reasoned that if he couldn’t control his body there was certainly no reason to give up control over his mind. The answer for him was ‘a life of mind.’ He liked to think one should read the best books, worship Bach, watch strong movies, eat great food, make mischief and also, read Mark Twain at every opportunity. According to Sid, Twain had only one serious flaw—he could not write a bad sentence. He called his complete Mark Twain collection “my Twain Set, and I have traveled far on board.”

There were many difficult days, but as Sid said there were also wonderful people who kept him going including family, friends and his dedicated caregivers.

Sid is survived by his wife, Margaret and two children, Anne-Marie Palmieri (Michael) and Nicholas Hall (Zena) and his three grandchildren, Zachary, Emma and Leia.

He is also survived by his four siblings, Leigh, Thomas, Edward and Mary and their families.

A celebration of Sid’s life will be held in early to mid-September. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the ALS Association or the Lakes Region Conservation Trust.