A Book for His Grandchildren Keeps the Osborne Legacy Alive
At 98, Erik Osborne publishes a new memoir. He is a member of one of Auburn’s most historically significant and affluent families — and a former publisher of The Auburn Citizen
By David Figura
At 98, Frederik “Erik” Osborne is still rowing strong.
For six days each week, Osborne hops on his Concept2 rowing machine upstairs at his Auburn home and rows 40 to 60 minutes before dinner.
“He also plays poker once a week and bridge twice a week — along with having weekly Zoom sessions with his children,” said Sheila Vorreuter, his second wife.
Osborne, who listens to audiobooks while rowing, credits his longevity to remaining physically, mentally and socially active.
His recently released book, “Erik’s Story, Life in a Changing World,” is an overview of nearly 10 decades as a member of one of Auburn’s most historically significant and affluent families.
In his memoir, Osborne, shares anecdotes from his childhood; his secondary education at Deerfield Academy, his six years at Harvard University and his work career as a reporter, editor and eventually publisher of The Citizen, then a family-owned newspaper. Osborne also started Auburn Cablevision and owned several radio stations. After selling the newspaper, the radio stations and finally the cable company, he retired at age 77 and turned to writing.
The book also features family stories, including those contributed by Osborne’s seven children from his first marriage with May Minturn Sedgwick. Each of the children related memorable events during their “growing up years.”
After 48 years of marriage, May died of cancer in 1999. He married Sheila in 2002.
Why this book? Why now?
“I wrote it for my grandchildren,” he said during a recent interview in the kitchen at their Grover Street home in Auburn. “I wanted them to know what happened.”
He and Sheila, 82, live with Beau, the couple’s playful Labrador retriever. Their brick home, built in 1824, has a museum-like feel. Numerous paintings, antique furniture and artifacts are throughout.
The self-published book is the latest of several Osborne authored after he retired. His first was a children’s book, “The Adventures of Tilly” about a young girl who loses her doll, Tilly, after it is caught in a closing door of a New York City subway. The doll then has a series of adventures before it is returned to its owner.
Other books include three, short murder-mystery novels. He also edited and published the memoirs of his fathers and father-in-law.
The local, state, national and even international impact of the Osborne family throughout the years, both economically and historically, is noteworthy.
Osborne’s great-grandfather, David Munson Osborne (1822-1886), founded a farm machine manufacturing company that sold equipment all over the world. It eventually merged with International Harvester. David Munson Osborne became the first of three generations of Osbornes to serve as mayor of Auburn.
He married Eliza Wright, a women’s suffrage activist and the daughter of Martha Coffin Wright, an organizer of the 1848 Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls.
Erik’s grandfather, Thomas Mott Osborne (1859 – 1926), followed in his father’s footsteps as a businessman and mayor of Auburn. Then he achieved greater fame as a prison reformer. He was warden at Sing Sing and commanding officer at the U.S Naval Prison in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. His statue is in front of the Auburn Police Station.
Erik Osborne’s father, Lithgow, (1892-1980), was a career diplomat, the husband of Lille Raben-Levetzau, a Danish countess. Among his assignments was as private secretary to Ambassador James W. Gerard at the U.S. embassy in Germany leading up to World War I. He kept a detailed diary of the historic developments, which later Erik edited and published in his book, “Wandering into World War One.”
Other jobs with the State Department followed. Back home, Lithgow Osborne was appointed commissioner of conservation for New York state, a position he held for 10 years. President Franklin D. Roosevelt tagged him to be the U.S. ambassador to Norway from 1944 to 1946.
Erik Osborne wrote in his book that growing up as an Osborne in Auburn gave him “a skewed idea of life.”
“The Osborne Machine Company employed 5,000 people at its height in Auburn. After the business was sold, the family still owned the newspaper, the biggest hotel in town and the first-run [movie] theater,” he wrote. “As a child I can recall going to the theater and not buying a ticket. I would simply say Osborne and my friends and I would walk right in.”
The Osborne family donated to the city the building that is Auburn City Hall.
Following a 15-month stint in the military, Osborne attended Harvard University, for undergrad and two years of graduate study in public administration and business.
It was at Harvard that Osborne became a serious backgammon player. He often played for money against individuals and in tournaments. Over the years, he kept track of his winnings, investing them in the stock market. Today, that fund totals $144,000, he said.
Harvard was also where he joined the university’s crew team, beginning what developed into a life-long passion for competitive rowing, both outdoors and indoors.
Osborne, who stands 6 feet, 7 inches, concedes that he was an “enthusiastic, but not very good athlete.” At one point, though, he held two world records for indoor rowing in the 70- and 80-year-old categories. (Both records, for 2,000 meters, have since been broken, he added.)
Asked of what accomplishment he is most proud, Osborne cited decisions made as a board member for the Osborne Association, which was founded by his grandfather, Thomas Mott Osborne, as part of his effort to reform North American prisons. When Osborne first joined the board, there was talk about shutting the association down as it only had three employees and one program.
Osborne instead backed merging with the Correctional Association of New York and hiring a new program director who later vastly improved things. He served on the board for 50 years.
Today the Osborne Association, which eventually parted ways with the Correctional Association, is headquartered in the Bronx with total of seven community offices across New York state. It continues to offer helpful programs for inmates and ex-inmates with its budget of $42 million and 350 employees.
“They’re a real force in the field,” he said.
Osborne is working on yet another book, a compilation of letters from his first wife, May, who one summer rented a camper and took off on a six-week, cross-country trip by herself with their seven children, visiting relatives in California and making various stops along the way.
Another goal involves Osborne’s indoor rowing machine.
“I’d like to set the new world record for 100-year-olds,” he said.
Osborne’s latest book, “Erik’s Story, Life in a Changing World” is available on Amazon.com.