Nicholas Andrian

Nicholas Andrian passed from this earth on to the great universe at the Corvallis Manor. The cause of death was complications from pneumonia. He was born in Newark, N.J., the son of Maria and George Andrian. When still a young boy, he moved with his family to New York City, where he lived until his move to Oregon in 2004. He was a scholar from a very early age, excelling in school. While in high school he entered a city-wide essay competition and was the winner in his grade. Eleanor Roosevelt presented the award. Nicholas joined the Boy Scouts as a youth and later became an Eagle Scout. His college work was carried out at City College of New York where he was accepted into the Honors program. From there he entered Columbia University and graduated with a degree in psychology. Writing was his passion and he turned out hundreds of poems, thousands of aphorisms and three plays, one of which was given off-Broadway. His aphorisms were frequently used by the clergy, business executives and politicians as themes for speeches. Many invitations to recite his poetry on the East Coast were extended and this he did, from Philadelphia to Boston. Within the last 10 years, a number of his poems have been set to music and performed in New York and Europe. Nicholas was active on the political scene, helping to organize campaigns. At one point, he had lunch with John F. Kennedy, who asked him to be on his strategy committee. He worked as a management consultant for many years, traveling around the country to reorganize firms that were having problems, and taking time off between assignments to write. One of these jobs included going to the Amazon in Brazil to help the indigenous peoples set up work modes that would aid them in upgrading their living standards. He spent three years traveling back and forth between Rio de Janeiro, Belem and New York. At times he would live in the jungle and participate in the everyday lives of the people with whom he was working. Music played a large role in his life and he was particularly devoted to Mozart; on occasion Nicholas was asked to give pre-concert lectures about him at Lincoln Center. He was caught up in the swirl of music in New York and socialized with many artists including Arturo Toscanini, Leonard Bernstein and Maria Callas in the classical music world and such jazz players as John Coltrane and Miles Davis, among many others. Nicholas was a long-time member of The Players Club in New York, the former home of Edwin Booth, and given by him as a meeting place for people of the theater and professionals. In 1995, he met Joyce Pytkowicz, who was visiting the city and they became companions, commuting back and forth between New York and Corvallis. Nicholas loved exploring the Western states which he found incomparably beautiful. He is survived by his companion, Joyce, and several cousins. There will be no services here but a Mass will be held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. “All creators mirror a solitary future in proportion as they underestimate the pain inherent in their past.” — Nicholas George Andrian

Nicholas Andrian

October 23, 1921 - January 16, 2008