Beth, Ann, Eugene

At the time Eugene was born, our family was living in a small Cape Cod house on Hoover Road in Schenectady, New York.  Eugene was a quiet child, and for the first four years of his life, I didn’t pay much attention to him--except when I found his toys more interesting than mine.  Once, when our parents returned from a trip out West, they presented us children with gifts: “Indian” purses for Ann and me, and a colorful feather headdress for Eugene.  I coveted that headdress, and I’m sure I persuaded him to “share.”     

In the early 1960s, after the arrival of our brother Joe, our parents decided they needed a bigger house.  The cost of fuel was rising, and Dad announced that we had to live within walking distance of work, school, or church.  Our Latter-day Saint congregation was constructing a new chapel in a subdivision called Indian Hills.  My parents purchased the lot at the corner of the chapel parking lot and built a six-bedroom rambler with an open basement.  They landscaped the sloping yard with a terraced patio, flower beds, a few old apple trees, a big sandbox, and a large vegetable garden.

Family in the backyard

As Ann grew more interested in books and ballet, Eugene and I became buddies.  He would tag after me, or I would tag along with him and his pals.  We played tetherball and caroms.  We pretended Dad’s thick patch of corn was a trackless jungle.  We built snow forts in the winter, and during the warm, humid summers, we played wild games of tag or turned the sandbox into a pond—the more mud and water, the better.  In the vacant lot behind our back yard, Eugene and a friend or two dug an elaborate system of tunnels. 

I confess I sometimes instigated acts of mischief—though we always called them “experiments.”  One of these “experiments” involved a metal toy fire engine, an electrical outlet, and a piece of cord from an old lamp.  I will not go into detail, but I think we blew a fuse and barely escaped electrocution.  Eugene wrote a story based on this event; I believe it was published in Cricket magazine.    

Henry, Joe, Eugene, Dan

Our father considered TV-watching a waste of time, and he refused to buy one for our family.  Sometimes, we went out to the movies, but at home, our entertainment was provided by books and records.  We listened to the comedy skits of Bill Cosby and the albums of Simon and Garfunkel.  When I was 12 or 13 years old, we spent a long summer weekend at Lake George in a house belonging to some friends from church.  There, we found a collection of Peter, Paul, and Mary albums, and the whole family became fans.

Clockwise from "noon"--Eugene,

Ann, Henry, Kate, Dan, Beth, Joe

Like our father and his father before him, Eugene was an introvert, very private and reserved.  He didn’t like to socialize, and he never talked to me about anything personal.  I really didn’t get to know him well as an adult.  When I think about Eugene, I remember that sweet, easygoing kid trekking through the cornfield or building tunnels in the vacant lot.

Beth Woodbury Hart

Thanks to Joe for the new photographs, discovered photographs, and perfected photographs.  

Labels: memories

 

 

Labels: memories

Over ten years ago, Eugene started Peaks Island Press. Through Peaks Island Press, he published Serpent of Time and Fox & Wolf. Although Fox & Wolf was somewhat more popular (shapeshifters!), he considered Serpent of Time, with its time traveling and historical background, to be the better book. During these years, he also published works by two of his sisters.

He never ceased translating works from Japanese to English. Under various pseudonyms, he translated light novels for various publishers. In the last six years, he began publishing translations of Ranpo Edogawa's Boy Detectives Club books, starting with The Space Alien.

Most of his translations, however, he did for free. He disliked the pressure of publishing deadlines and preferred to work--and rework--his translations however many times he wished. 

His greatest translation project was Fuyumi Ono's Twelve Kingdoms. He discusses how he got started on translations, including that specific project, here: 

• How Eugene Woodbury Got Started, Part I
• How Eugene Woodbury Got Started, Part II

The downloads for the Twelve Kingdom translations will remain available indefinitely. The Edogawa translations will hopefully be made available, for free, on this blog at a later date.   

Labels: memories, Tribute

Eugene kept himself updated

on changes to Tokyo South.

After his mission ended, Eugene majored in TESL at Brigham Young University. He continued to improve his understanding of Japanese--he was never without vocabulary cards, the 3-1/2" by 1-3/4" types. 

A decade later, in the late 1980s, he returned to Japan to teach English. 

He didn't stay. However, back in the U.S., he continued to watch Japanese television and anime, read novels and manga, and stay abreast of current events. As the next tribute post will discuss, he never stopped producing translations. 

Eugene's remarkable facility with translation was due, in large part, to his belief that translation is not a matter for Google Translate (as the image from Bones humorously illustrates). Rather, translation involves a grasp of culture and nuance. A translator hopes to capture the allusions, conscious and unconscious references/assumptions, within a text. 

Eugene was a perfectionist (one reason he preferred to translate for free); he was never entirely sure he had captured the full meaning of a passage or phrase or even word. 

Language has layers. As an aficionado of everything Japanese, Eugene strove to capture those layers. Interview with the Translator captures Eugene's continual efforts to deepen and expand his knowledge of Japanese history, culture, language, and--especially--popular works.

A tribute post to Eugene's writing, including his translations, will follow in May. 

Labels: memories, Tribute

With Eugene's passing, Peaks Island Press is no longer in operation. Books within the catalog will be republished in 2026. 

His 12 Kingdoms translations, of which he was quite proud and dearly loved, will remain available. At some point, the books may be transferred to another link/URL. If so, that link will be posted here.

See the post below about remembrances. In keeping with Eugene's private personality as well as his eclectic interests, which included technology, a tribute to Eugene will likely take the form of memorial posts on this blog.

Labels: 12 kingdoms, memories, peaks island press

Eugene Woodbury unexpectedly passed away at the age of 65 early January 2025. 

Memorial posts will appear on this blog in the upcoming months. They will address specific areas of Eugene's life, such as his love of go-karts and old televisions, his time in Japan, and his impressive translations. 

Labels: memories