Robert M. Ullian

December 31, 1944 - April 29, 2020

AMHERST-Robert Mark Ullian of Amherst, Massachusetts, passed away April 29, 2020 from COVID-19. He was born on Long Island, New York on December 31, 1944 to Milton and Janet Ullian. He received his Bachelors from Amherst College and his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Columbia University. There were so many aspects of who Robert was: He was a storyteller writing about the lives of Israelis and Palestinians in a mixed neighborhood in Jerusalem drawn from his years of living in Israel. His fiction appeared in a range of publications from Esquire to the Boston Phoenix. He also authored guidebooks for Frommers on Israel, Morocco, Mexico, Greece, and Venice. He was a believer in peace, and helped bring students from Israel and Palestine to the United States to study at Hampshire College. He remained close to one of these students, Sadek Shweiki, who thought of him as a member of his family, like a father to him and a grandfather to his daughters. He was a teacher of art and writing. Robert taught at Hampshire College and the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. He was an enthusiastic folk dancer, a crafter of boxes, and someone who cared deeply for friends and family. He was pre-deceased by his parents and survived by his brother Joseph Alan Ullian and a sister Jill Ullian and many devoted friends and relatives. To send an online condolence please visit www.mackfamilyfh.com.