Anne Brinton, 83, died on Dec. 28, 2019, at Thompson House in Brattleboro, Vt., her home, following a severe stroke. She was 83.
She was born May 21, 1936, to Charles and Anna Brinton in Cambridge. In spite of childhood scoliosis, Anne studied dance. In her 20s, she performed and sang with a jazz ensemble in the Boston area. Later, she worked as a licensed social worker, a boutique owner, and briefly as a waitress, and fulfilled her dream to usher at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Anne’s sense of style, love of art, and independent spirit brought her to Provincetown in the 1960s, first as a summer visitor and later as a full-time resident. For the next 20 years, as her many friends remember, she strode through town, fed the pigeons, listened to everyone, read the New York Times with her morning coffee, and sang with the Take Five Jazz Ensemble at the old Mews Restaurant.
In 2001, she moved to Brattleboro, partly to be close to her best friends, Edel Byrne and Jan McPherson. She loved her view of mountain and river. She fed the sparrows, kept a cat, and never missed a hair appointment or her volunteer hours at the New England Coalition. She joined the choir at Centre Congregational, the tree committee, and the senior center for movies, tai chi, and socializing. She supported the library, the Brown Bag Lunch series at the River Garden, Amy’s, Mocha Joe’s, and the Co-op. She adored the flower pots and hanging baskets along Main Street. She made new friends who join her family and old friends in keeping her memory alive.
A private person with strong values, Anne quietly strengthened any group she joined. Equally opposed to profanity and religiosity, she spoke frankly from her heart. She once said her life was a process of getting down off the stage to come into the audience and take her place. In the end, she was an usher.
She was predeceased by her parents and her beloved husband, James Knotts. Anne specified that there be no services, but a gathering of friends may occur in the places she held dear. Respecting her wishes, her Provincetown friends are planning a gathering for the afternoon of May 2 at St. Mary of the Harbor.
