Andrew (“Drew”) Keith Hubner passed away peacefully in his home in the Bronx on August 10, 2022. He is survived by his children Henry, Eleanor, and August; partner Kristin Mathis and son Santiago; mother Jacqueline; elder brother David and wife Ruth, younger brother Steve and wife Lindsay, as well as the mother of his children, Sarah Hayes, and many cherished godchildren, family, and friends.
Born on October 16, 1962 in Newark, NJ, but raised in Cary, NC, Drew prided himself on being a mix of Jersey realness and Southern charm. He picked up New York grit when he moved to the city in 1984 and joined the downtown literary scene.
He attended Appalachian State, Hunter College, and The New School, but above all, Drew was a true student of humanity. He was a gentle giant of a man, an inveterate greeter of strangers, equally at home discussing Homer’s Iliad as he was the sports page, with an ability to move from literary salons, to punk bars, to church basement meetings with ease. His many acts of service to the community included co-leading AA meetings for decades, serving as Commissioner of Little League in Riverdale, and routinely handing out $20 bills to the unhoused folks on his Bronx block.
Drew was a “writer’s writer” whose prose was so searing and tender it scorched your soul. His quest for good stories knew no temperance or end. He drove the back roads of our vast American landscape to gather material for his critically acclaimed first novel American By Blood (2000). Further travels to Kuwait and Kosovo resulted in We Pierce (2003), a story of Operation Desert Storm loosely based on his relationship with big brother, Colonel Dave Hubner, US Army, Ret. His collection of short stories, East of Bowery (2012), drew inspiration from his youthful escapades on the Lower East Side.
A lover of language, he held the position of Lecturer at CUNY Hostos in the South Bronx. His passion for teaching literature and composition was outdone only by his love for his students. For a time he held a position in the CUNY Faculty Senate, but he always said his true work was giving his students, many of whom were first-generation college-goers like himself, a shot at escaping poverty.
But of all the many people Drew loved, his children Henry, LouLou, and Gus were his greatest treasures. He picked them up faithfully from school every day, and spent countless hours playing games from “potato monster” to toy soldiers to baseball. With his offbeat sense of humor and silly voices, he entertained them for hours on long road trips to Gettysburg, GA, ME, NH, and NC. In recent years, his life partner Kristin Mathis and son Santiago became an integral part of Drew’s motley crew.
Drew will be missed by many, but he wanted folks to know that if they considered the beauty of American wildflowers, they would find him there among the Queen Anne’s Lace.
A Memorial Service will be held August 27th, 1-4 pm at Riverdale on Hudson Funeral Home in the Bronx..