In memoriam: James “Howdy” Houghton

December 27, 1947–August 22, 2021

Howdy Houghton

By COA lecturer Scott Swann ’86, MPhil ’93

I am trying to remember exactly how long I knew Howdy Houghton. Most certainly since I was a student at COA. I think of myself as having known him forever which, of course, is not exactly true… Perhaps we knew each other in a prior life when we both were cod. As a student, I confess to initially being highly frightened of Howdy. Our first meetings took place in the taxidermy lab where he had a proclivity for silently apparating, like a Hogwarts ghost, in the room where I was working alone at night. It seemed like Howdy would transport through a solid wall—whichever wall happened to be at my back—and announce his presence by walking around, pulling out a chair, and putting his club-of-death flashlight on the table. And, because I was well versed in horror films, I was sure I knew what would happen next in this scene (he the Stephen King-like night watchman and I the cowering student) but the horrific “next” never happened. I did, however, stick to my role by quickly scanning the taxidermy table to see if there was any student-age contraband that needed covering by a half-prepared bird skin, but Howdy would just sit there and start talking. We did this for decades. If I had to write the book, The Who and What of Human Ecology, Howdy would be either my first chapter or my last. My wine or my coffee. My beginning and my end. 

Howdy and I had many common interests—fishing was a big one. He was a lifelong member of the fishing and fishing boat community, and he and I would spend hours discussing the ins and outs of diesel mechanics. That said, our strongest bond—none who knew us would suspect—was that we both used the same secret hiding spaces on campus to provide meals to students who were facing food insecurity. He would line up at TAB, buy a bunch of food, and deliver it like clockwork to these secret places. That’s a part of the Howdy that I want to remember, kind, caring, gruf, and a bottomless heart. In my mind, Howdy was COA’s superhero. When I think about it, I can’t decide what sort of superhero Howdy was; he didn’t have muscles of steel, or x-ray vision, or raging hair… The Howdy I remember was old, wizened, gray, and bald since birth. No, Howdy was not like Iron Man or Spiderman or Superman, he was more like Don Quixote (they actually look quite similar). They were both devoted to their calling and were men of action—of course the big difference between Quixote and Howdy was that one lived in his dreams and the other lived in Maine. You could say Quixote was a romantic and Howdy was a realist; Howdy had to be a realist, there is nothing more real than hunger. Howdy knew hunger and did his part to help those who were in need. Rest in peace, Howdy Houghton, you will forever live in the deepest part of my heart.