Marilyn Maxfield Hunt, 1937-2021
Marilyn Maxfield Hunt of Santa Fe passed away Oct. 16 in her home, surrounded by family.
She was born in 1937 in Oklahoma City to James Sydney and Frances (Bragg) Maxfield and split her time between Oklahoma City and her parents’ ranch in Hereford, Texas.
She met the love of her life, Franklin Hunt, as a high school student at Casady School in Oklahoma City. They married July 12, 1958, and were devoted to each other for 63 years.
Marilyn Hunt earned a bachelor’s degree in French at Wellesley College and a master’s in art history from Columbia University. Upon moving to Brooklyn, N.Y., she became a staff member of the Guggenheim Museum and later of the dance collection of the New York Public Library.
When she developed the dream of becoming a dance writer, Marilyn contacted the Brooklyn
Heights Press and began reviewing ballet and modern dance performances. She became a widely published dance writer, and her work appeared in The Independent in London, Ballet Review and Dance Chronicle. Marilyn served as president of the Society of Dance History Scholars. In addition to writing regularly for Dance Magazine, she became one of its senior editors.
Over the course of her writing career, she interviewed many important figures from the dance world, including Igor Youskevitch, Anton Dolin, Eugene Loring, Gene Kelly, Joseph Duell and Daniel Duell.
Years later, when she and her husband began splitting their time between New York City and Santa Fe, she pursued new creative endeavors. She became a photographer, showing her work in New Mexico galleries, and she partnered with Andrew Garcia of Ohkay Owingeh to make a documentary film about his family group of traditional dancers.
She is survived by her husband, Franklin; daughters Laura Van Arnam (Rick) and Molly Hunt (Mark Sardella); two granddaughters, Emma and Elizabeth Van Arnam; her cousin Ronald Maxfield; sister-in-law Marjorie Hunt; and several nieces and nephews.
A burial service will be held Friday at the Santa Fe National Cemetery. A celebration of her life will be held May 21 and May 22. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Museum of New Mexico Foundation are welcome.