Antje Katcher
Antje Katcher, a Springs poet, publisher, and photographer, died of pancreatic cancer on April 7. She was 66.
Ms. Katcher, a person of wide-ranging interests and talents, was also a professional translator, political activist, and financial analyst.
In 1988, she founded Three Mile Harbor, a poetry journal, which evolved into an independent press that published books by poets such as Enid Dame, Jean Kemper Hoffmann, and Pamela Kallimanis.
Her own work appeared in numerous journals and in two chapbooks, “Illegal Tender” and “For Bananafish,” which was a series of sestinas inspired by the titles of stories by J.D. Salinger. A posthumous volume of new and selected work is scheduled for publication this summer.
Ms. Katcher’s love of poetry blossomed after she came to New York from Germany in 1969 to work as an au pair. She fell in love with the city, and found work at the West German embassy, first as a clerk, then as a translator, while earning a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s in business administration from Columbia.
She studied with the poetry editor William Packard at New York University, and served for two years in the late 1970s on The New York Quarterly’s editorial board. At the same time, she worked with Gene Frankel, a Broadway director, at his Manhattan theater school.
In 1981, she took a job as a financial and budget analyst at what is now JP Morgan Chase. She worked on data processing centers in England and in East Asia, and spent a considerable amount of time in Hong Kong, leading to a deep appreciation of Chinese art and culture. When she left Chase in 2001, she became a freelance translator of documents, from German to English, and moved full time to the East End.
Ms. Katcher, who was born in Kiel, Germany, on Feb. 18, 1948, was a committed activist for a range of political and socioeconomic initiatives. As a co-chair of the South Fork chapter of the Long Island Progressive Coalition, she worked on health care, social justice, sustainable development, and campaign finance reform. She also worked on the affordable senior citizens housing project at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Amagansett.
She lent her efforts as well to the Committee for Peace in Palestine and Israel and to the vigils for peace held locally by the Women in Black.
She was an active member and supporter of the Incarnation Lutheran Church in Bridgehampton, where she served as treasurer, and of St. Michael’s.
Ms. Katcher is survived by a brother, Peter Dreyer, and a sister, Elke Kruse, both of Germany.
Memorial contributions have been suggested to Long Island Cares, 10 Davids Drive, Hauppauge 11786. A memorial service will be announced at a future date.