Noel M. D. Rae of Cross River, noted historian and author dies at 93

Noel Martin Douglas Rae, acclaimed historian, author and former Reader’s Digest executive, died April 16 in Cross River at the age of 93, a victim of the fire that destroyed the Rae family home.

He was born in London, England, on Nov. 21, 1932, the second son of Douglas Rae, a journalist, and Loretta Ardizzone Rae.

His mother and her brother, Edward, were born in Haiphong, Vietnam, then known as French Indochina. To escape the chaos of World War I, they were moved to England and were raised largely by their maternal grandmother in Suffolk. His uncle, Edward Ardizzone, became a celebrated and much-loved British artist and illustrator known as “DIZ.”

Shipped to safety

To keep them safe from the London Blitz during World War II, Noel and his brother, Ian, were shipped off to a farm in Kent. To their parents’ dismay, however, the boys delighted in spotting and identifying the German planes overhead. 

Rae’s love for history was sparked during his early years at Bradfield College, a boarding school for boys in Reading, Berkshire County, not far from London. As was customary, secondary education was followed by a year of military service; he spent his service in Germany as an officer in the British Army.

Upon returning to England, Rae was enrolled at Oxford University, where he “read history” at New College — which, he later explained to his daughter, was so named because it was not founded until 1379. He graduated Oxford with honors, receiving both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in history. This field of study was to become his lifelong passion. 

Rae worked briefly as a stockbroker in London, an occupation for which he professed little enthusiasm. During this time, however, he began to write fiction. His first novel, “The Slow Fade,” was published in 1966. Now in his late 20s, Rae wanted to explore the world. He emigrated to the United States and spent more than a year traveling throughout the country, becoming deeply interested in the history and culture, legends and chronicles of every region he visited. He settled in New York City, enjoying what he called “a bohemian life.” 

Married to a writer

Rae met his future wife, Linda Shirer, on a double date. Linda had graduated from Harvard University in 1963 and was working in New York as an editor at Atlas magazine, a compendium of world press coverage of politics and culture. Like Rae, Linda had a rich appreciation for history. Her father was William L. Shirer, noted American journalist, war correspondent, and author of “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.” 

The couple married July 16, 1966, at the Shirer home in Torrington, Conn. A daughter, Christina, was born in 1968. By the time a son, Alexander, arrived in 1975, the family was calling Westchester home, having moved to Cross River in 1971.

He spent 18 active and productive years working in Chappaqua as executive director of Reader’s Digest Condensed Books, International Division. Former colleagues praised his prodigious talent, modesty, wit, kindness and unfailing grace under pressure. During Rae’s time with the Digest, the family traveled extensively and especially enjoyed exploring England, France, Scotland and Italy. After Reader’s Digest reorganized its staff in the mid-1980s, Rae served as founder and editorial director of The Select Reader Book Club, a commercial start-up funded by the Toronto Star. The venture ceased operations by 1991.

Though professional and family activities kept him busy for decades, Rae’s wonder and love for the history of the United States never flagged. His family is proud of his authorship of 10 meticulously researched, widely acclaimed books on American history and daily life. Among them are: “Witnessing America,” a compilation of firsthand accounts of life in America spanning 300 years; “The People’s War: Original Voices of the American Revolution,” told almost entirely in the words of the soldiers and sailors who fought it and the civilians who endured it; and “The Great Stain, Witnessing American Slavery,” published in 2018. 

Face-to-face with slavery

“The Great Stain” brought together memoirs, articles and records from the Library of Congress, bringing readers face to face with slavery’s everyday reality through the writings of former slaves, slave owners, and even African slavers. In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Lewisboro Library hosted a program of dramatic readings of selected passages from the book, with Rae on hand to narrate and local professional actor Dawn Brown-Berenson voicing the writings of slaves and of slave masters. The program was repeated some months later at the Katonah Village Library.

Still writing at 93

In his 93rd year, Rae continued to research and write. Christina said her father was working on a book about “disruptive” women in America, which she said ”would have especially delighted all the women in our family.”

Rae was said to be an active and loving presence in the lives of his nieces, Deirdre Van Dyk, Caitlin Palacios, Fiona Rae, Caroline Rae and Katherine Rae.

He is mourned by Linda, his wife of 62 years, daughter, Christina, son Alexander, and scores of colleagues and friends worldwide.

A service of commemoration will be held by the family at a later date.