Following is the obituary for BARRY TARSHIS, submitted by his family.

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Barry Tarshis, of Westport, died peacefully at home Feb. 4, 2025, with his family by his side. He was 86. 

A cherished husband, father, brother, father-in-law, grandfather, great-grandfather, uncle, friend, tennis partner and basketball coach, he endured two years of brutal health challenges by drawing on a bottomless wellspring of optimism, charm, kindness, generosity and a weak spot for mediocre jokes. 

Five days before he died, confined to his bed and afflicted with late-stage Alzheimer’s disease, he was asked by his hospice nurse if he was comfortable. “I make a decent living,” he replied.

Barry Lee Tarshis was born in 1939 in Pittsburgh, Pa. He loved sharing stories of growing up in the rowhouse with his parents and his older sister Carole, along with their aunt, uncle and two cousins. His father Max was a musician who instilled in Barry a lifelong love of music. Even into his final months, Barry retained his ability to play Bill Evans on the piano, sing along with Pavarotti and harmonize with Elton John and Jim Croce.

Barry overcame his childhood shyness to star in the Peabody High School production of “Guys and Dolls,” earn a spot on the basketball team and capture the heart of his future wife, the beautiful Karen Ross, who he began dating at the age of 15.

After leaving University of Pittsburgh one credit short of graduation, Barry traveled across Europe on a motorbike, appeared as an extra in the Fellini film “La Dolce Vita,” lived on a kibbutz in Israel and moved into a Greenwich Village hovel to embark on a career as a writer.

After marrying Karen and serving in the U.S. Army at the Sandia base in New Mexico, he settled into a 30-plus year career as a freelance author. He wrote a dozen books and hundreds of articles for The New York Times, Playbill, Playboy, Town & Country and Tennis, among other publications. 

In service of his writing, he rallied with tennis stars like Chris Evert, walked on hot coals with Tony Robbins, traveled to India, Russia, Colombia and Micronesia, and interviewed a mystic who specialized in casting love spells.

He would later teach writing, craft communications seminars for business leaders and create the grammar and writing website Communications Fitness. Had he reviewed this obit before his death, this draft would have reflected his annotated grammar corrections and significant revisions.

The shaping forces of Barry’s career were an eagerness to learn and his genuine curiosity about and respect for all kinds of people — from tennis champions to the students who took his writing classes at public schools in the South Bronx. 

He brought these same qualities into his most prized creative endeavor, his family. He loved his wife Karen deeply. He parented his children, Lauren and Andrew, with unconditional love, unquestioning support, many laughs and spot-on wisdom at critical junctures. While most fathers dream of their children achieving fame and fortune, Barry’s oft-stated parenting goal was to “raise children he would want to hang out with when they were older.” They certainly wanted to hang out with him, as often as possible.

Barry basked in his role as shamelessly proud grandfather to his three grandsons, four granddaughters and two great grandsons. 

On Barry’s behalf, we offer a posthumous apology to those of Barry’s friends who stoically endured his long-winded stories about his grandchildren’s three-point shots, musical performances, academic successes, professional triumphs and other possibly exaggerated achievements.

Barry life was not without setbacks. But he never bemoaned his reversals of fortune, even as his Alzheimer’s progressed, even after a sudden life-changing surgery, even as his knees, pummeled by 55 years of tennis, finally gave out. 

Well into his last weeks, he woke up each day with a renewed sense of life’s possibilities, deep gratitude and an eagerness to uplift his family, his friends and anyone lucky enough to cross his path. 

Barry is survived by his wife of 62 years, Karen Ross Tarshis; his two children, Lauren (David Dreyfuss) and Andrew; his seven grandchildren, Leo Dreyfuss (Rebecca Goldman), Jeremy Dreyfuss (Shira), Dylan and Valerie Dreyfuss, Lily, Evi and Ruby Tarshis, and his adoring sister Carole Cohen.

A private celebration-of-life is being planned for the near future. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Alzheimer’s Foundation, or tell someone a mediocre joke, in Barry’s honor.