Nancy Kirkland Salisbury

Born in 1924, Nancy Kirkland Salisbury grew up in the mid-Western city of Joplin, Missouri. Her mother, Delta, a very practical woman, hoped her daughter would become a nurse. Nancy definitely had other plans. Always a bit dramatic, with an eye for adventure, Nancy chose instead to study theater at Northwestern University’s School of the Performing Arts and immediately headed for New York City’s bright lights of Broadway after graduation. One of her very first NY auditions was for Tobacco Road; not only did her talents win her the role of the character Pearl in the play; she quickly stole the heart of the playwright as well, the noted author Jack Kirkland. Soon a happily married couple, the Kirklands, Jack and Nancy, divided their time between a bucolic Bucks County farm in Pennsylvania and the theater life of New York City, adding to the mix several romantic Parisian interludes. In quick succession there came three beautiful children, Johnna, Gelsey and Marshall. While Jack continued writing and producing such plays as “The Man with the Golden Arm,” “Mandingo,” and “Frankie and Johnnie,” Nancy stepped down from the stage to care for her growing family. The Kirklands now resided at the Apthrop on the upper West Side, one of NY’s historic architectural landmarks. Looking for activities for her two daughters, Nancy enrolled them in a ballet school, a very special school, The School of American Ballet, under the guidance of George Balanchine, perhaps the greatest choreographer of our time. Nancy witnessed her two girls becoming international ballerinas, who, at even very early ages, were featured together in LIFE Magazine. Her son Marshall took a more traditional East Coat path, becoming a student at Andover in Massachusetts and ultimately graduating from the University of San Francisco as an athlete, playing both soccer and running track. An early-liberated woman, Nancy returned to the workforce, insisting on riding her bicycle to the Time Life Building as an executive in the picture department of Sports Illustrated magazine. Over time she was promoted into the magazine’s highest editorial management echelon to develop her vision for Sports Illustrated Photo Archive, which remains the world’s most comprehensive sports image database. Nancy also oversaw many unique projects for SI, such as the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics photo-coverage and the Sports Illustrated Muhammad Ali Special Issue. Before her retirement, Nancy became one of the early pioneers of digital photography, initiating the transition of the magazine’s archive from analog to digital, a cataloging system that exists to this day. When her husband Jack passed in 1969, she was on her own for several years until she met and married a wonderful man, Bob Salisbury, a New York investment banker who adored Nancy completely. To Bob she was always his precious “Snowflake.” Sadly, Bob passed in the late 1990’s. Ever resilient, Nancy was an avid scrabble player and until a very short while ago continued riding her bicycle. Nancy’s recent years were spend dedicated to her family, who will miss her deeply. Nancy is survived by her three children, Johnna, Gelsey and Marshall, her three grandchildren, Chloe, Delta and Olivia and her great-grandson Harvey.