Paul Cook, economist, fervent fisherman
Dr. Paul W. Cook Jr., an economist who taught at Harvard Business School and later mastered the Martha's Vineyard coastline as a fisherman in pursuit of striped bass and bluefish, died Wednesday at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Doctors diagnosed the longtime Lincoln resident with an inoperable brain tumor a month ago. Dr. Cook was 77.
"He went from healthy to passing away in a month," said his son John of Northborough. "But every time you mentioned someone's name, he got a big grin on his face. He knew exactly who you were talking about. He showed a lot of love and compassion in the last month."
Born in Evanston, Ill., Dr. Cook came East to attend Brown University in Providence. A college road trip took the young scholar to Martha's Vineyard, which later became a second home for Dr. Cook and his family. He returned to Illinois after receiving his bachelor's degree in 1948 and married Marian Miller of Whitewater, Wisc., whom he had met through a mutual friend. He then began doctoral work in economics at the University of Chicago. The couple started a family, living in the rented house of acclaimed economist Milton Friedman near the university campus.
Dr. Cook completed his doctorate and became a professor at Harvard Business School in 1956. He taught a range of courses that included Business Responsibilities in American Society. "He was very much of the Adam Smith school of economics," said his son Peter of Sudbury, describing the influence the 18th century Scottish economist had on his father's core beliefs. "He didn't believe in government restrictions."
At 39, Dr. Cook accepted the presidency at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind. in 1966. He spent two years in the post before returning to Massachusetts, where he signed on as a special consultant to MIT president Howard Johnson. The two had met during Dr. Cook's tenure at Harvard.
Dr. Cook also launched his own business consulting company, Paul W. Cook Jr. Associates of Lincoln, in 1970. He provided his economic expertise to legal firms representing large companies in antitrust lawsuits filed by the government. Dr. Cook worked with the New York firm Cravath, Swaine, and Moore, among others, and helped the defense of cereal giant Kellogg's and Morton Salt.
"He was always much more of a free-trade believer," his son said. "Less government control let the system work itself."
Though an economic whiz, Dr. Cook never bored his children with his work. "He didn't pitch his economic theories to his kids," John Cook said. "He was interested in teaching us how to bait a hook or play catch instead."
After years of renting vacation spots on Martha's Vineyard, the Cooks purchased a home in West Tisbury in 1967. Dr. Cook devoted many hours to studying what lures and bait work best, the benefits of trolling vs. surfcasting, and the different prey that hide in Nantucket Sound.
He also met Johnny Mayhew, a Vineyarder who lived down the street from the Cooks and would become Dr. Cook's fishing buddy.
"He learned a hell of a lot," said Mayhew, 83. "I used to kid him, but he ended up being quite a good fisherman. One day, just the two of us caught about 600 pounds [of bluefish] surfcasting. We were both looking forward to this year."
Dr. Cook kept a 26-foot inboard fishing boat at a boatyard on Lagoon Pond near Vineyard Haven, and for decades cast off on almost daily expeditions, unless weather conditions prohibited the hunt. Sometimes the lure of the chase clouded the pair's judgment. "One time, we went out, and it breezed up, blowing about 45 miles per hour. It was pretty snotty out there," Mayhew said.
During retirement, Dr. Cook instructed and took courses at the Harvard Institute of Learning in Retirement in Cambridge. He spent winter months for the last 15 years in Marco Island, Fla., with his wife, where he also fished.
Dr. Cook was a former member of the board of directors of the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln and sat on the town's Long Range Planning Committee.
"He was always an educator," said his son Peter. "I guess you could say he always saw the good in people."
In addition to his two sons, Dr. Cook leaves his wife, Marian; a daughter, Catherine Sue Cook Breau of Burnham, Maine; six grandchildren; and one great granddaughter.
A memorial service will be held at a later date.
