Robert William Cook's Obituary
Robert William Cook of Bryantown, Maryland passed away peacefully on Tuesday, July 26, 2022. He was born in New York City on August 3, 1944 to William and Elizabeth (Murray) Cook. He was 77 years old.
Robert accomplished many things throughout his life. He was a 40-year career Intelligence Officer for the Central Intelligence Agency. Prior to his government service he was an actor at the American Shakespeare Theater in Stratford, Connecticut.
His love of literature, history, anthropology, philosophy, American filmmaking, popular culture, and, above all, his unceasing quest for truth and justice was his guiding star. His restless intellect inspired him to accomplish so many things, first and foremost the curation of a one-of-a-kind private library containing volumes on topics as diverse as the Lincoln assassination to the sinking of the Titanic, the history of the Romanov Russian Imperial family to the study and classification of dinosaurs, and to the history of the Civil War and a thousand other things in-between. He generously volunteered his time to historical and cultural societies such as the Surratt Society and the Folger Shakespeare Library, and always welcomed curious visitors to his home at The Bryantown Tavern, the historic site where John Wilkes Booth conspired to assassinate President Lincoln. His greatest love, however, was for his dedicated wife of 55 years, Dr. Suzanne Cook, who he met, courted, and married while they were both undergraduates at the University of Connecticut.
He is survived by Suzanne; his son Matthew Cook and his wife Amy Szabo; grandchildren Raven and Gray; and great grandchildren Kaleigh, Kai, and Clayton; as well as by his sisters Patricia and Deborah. The family has entrusted Fort Myers Memorial Gardens with the care of Robert’s final arrangements. At the family's request all services are private. In lieu of flowers, the family asks well-wishers to make a donation in his name to the Surratt Society:
Surratt Society
9201 Edgeworth Drive #3853
Capitol Heights, MD 20790
Robert Cook’s encyclopedic knowledge and deep and abiding curiosity for the world was unique, rare, and wonderful beyond words. Neither it, nor he, can ever be replaced, but his impact on the lives, hearts, and minds of everyone who was lucky enough to have met him endures.
“He was a man, take him for all in all,
I shall not look upon his like again.”
~ Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 2
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