Janet Tarn

Obituary for Janet Rodney Tarn

Janet Rodney Tarn passed away on April 17, 2024, aged 83. Janet, known to her family as Jill, was born in Washington, DC on February 21, 1941. Her Naval officer father was killed near the Solomon Islands in 1942. At age nine she moved with her mother to Paris. There was a lot of travel, learning languages, different schools. About half her secondary education was in French. Her mother remarried. They moved to Taipei, then Spain. In Madrid she worked as a reader for publishers, as translator, interpreter and journalist. She left Spain in 1974 to go to graduate school at Rutgers, where she met the anthropologist and poet Nathaniel Tarn. They married in 1983 and later moved to New Mexico. Janet wrote award winning poetry, gave readings, made recordings and published several works. In 1987 she founded The Weaselsleeves Press. Her work as a letterpress printer is in fine print and rare book collections across the US. Recently, her attention turned to composing and printing fine art digital images. Janet is survived by her husband Nathaniel, nephew James R. Talbot III and his wife Joyce, as well as Nathaniel’s son Marc, and daughter Andrea. Jill was beloved by all who knew her, and had a wide circle of close friends.