David and I met way back, in the early 80s. He invited me to be on a panel judging NEH grant applications. We quickly became friends. He had better taste in clothes than I, and helped me buy outfits I'd need for a large conference I was running, and for my first TV interview! He read drafts of every book I've written, including the most recent one, and always gave me great comments. He was incredibly generous and thoughtful. He gave me all sorts of things in my favorite color, right up until a few months before he died. Writing that breaks my heart; his loss breaks my heart. I miss him, and always will.

David was a kind and wise consultant to NEH applicants and grantees. I came under his care for two very large projects funded by NEH, which meant that he attended conferences and took part in research trips my group made. We became close friends over the years, dining, museum-hopping, and attending concerts and theatrical performances wherever we happened to be. By the time he retired, he was friends with a huge number of people, including his colleagues and many beneficiaries of NEH grants, I imagine. He made a gentle, wise, witty, and devoted friend to thousands of us, I would think. For years, he was telling me to write a memoir, which I have finally achieved. May he rest in peace! Sumie Jones

Here is David at the farmers' market in Cambridge, MA. I think it was also in 2015 when he came to visit my mother.

Here is David with our cat - he was a very attentive cat sitter and she loved all the brushing. This is circa 2015, in Cambridge, MA.

David was a good friend of my late mother, Anne. They were classmates in Cambridge. He was a kind and generous soul who will be missed by many.  Please accept my condolences. May he rest in peace.

We all loved Uncle David very much and we will miss him dearly. Rest in peace Uncle David.

We all loved Uncle David very much and we will think about him all of the time. Rest in peace Uncle David.

Dear David's Family, I am so sorry for your loss.  I have known David from when we met at the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in 1979.  After a somewhat rocky start, with him coming into my office and asking if I were as dumb as I looked, we became lifelong friends.  I loved his sense of humor, his brillance (but of course since he had a PhD in English from Harvard), and his generous and giving spirit.  He was always charming and handsome.  When I first cast eyes on him at NEH and asked who he was (I can recall the first outfit I saw him in to this day), a secretary told me to "take a number."  We went to lectures together; shared books; he visited me everywhere I went in my next career (joining me in Hong Kong and Panama, for example).  He was a brilliant and hilarious friend with so much wisdom, generosity and class.  I will miss him so much.  Anne Woodard

OBITUARY

John David Wise

June 22, 1944 – January 26, 2024

Bernstein Funeral Home and Cremation Services

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