R. Jonathan Fairbanks, Jr. died peacefully April 2, 2021 in Silver Spring, Maryland. Born July 7, 1939, in St. Johns, Michigan, to Rev. Dr. Rollin Jonathan and Phyllis Maynard Fairbanks, he led a full and adventurous life. His magical childhood was spent in the woods and fields of Lincoln, Massachusetts where he developed his love of the outdoors, and baseball. A graduate of Belmont Hill School and Cornell University, he continued a passion for learning and literature at Harvard Divinity School, the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and University of Otago, New Zealand. During these years he was also sharing his love of adventure with others as an instructor at the Colorado Outward Bound School. In 1964, he instructed at the Devon Outward Bound School (England), on his way to New Zealand - a hiker and climberâs paradise. For four years, Jonathan taught at the University of Otago while he researched wilderness and literature, earning his PhD in English. He, his wife