Mary de Rachewiltz kept climbing the mountain.

She climbed it as a poet and scholar, carrying the complicated literary legacy of her father, poet Ezra Pound. She climbed it as guardian of a medieval castle overlooking Italy’s Adige Valley. And she continued climbing late in life, greeting generations of Guilford College students who arrived at Brunnenburg Castle young, curious and far from home.

Even in 2022, after battling COVID-19 and needing supplemental oxygen, Mary could still be seen making her way up the hill.

“She had such a taste and energy for life,” says Guilford Professor of Economics Natalya Shelkova, who accompanied students to Brunnenburg that year. “Before and after the illness, she still was climbing the hill.”

Mary, an Italian-American poet, translator and scholar who welcomed and nurtured hundreds of Guilford students, died July 24 at her Brunnenburg home. She was 101.

For Guilford, her death is the loss of something larger than a teacher or host.

“The program won’t be the same without the matriarch,” Natalya said.

That is what Mary became at Brunnenburg: its matriarch. Not merely because she lived in the castle or possessed an extraordinary literary pedigree, but because she understood that education is often conveyed through small acts of attention. She invited students into her parlor for tea and Tyrolean pastries. She asked them to write poetry about what they were seeing and feeling. Then she listened as they read their lines aloud.

Robert G. Williams, Voehringer Professor of Economics emeritus, who led Guilford groups to Brunnenburg in 1995 and 2003, remembered the “salon atmosphere” she created.

“Mary encouraged students — and faculty leaders — to write poetry about their experiences,” Robert said. “Our hearts go out to everyone at the castle. They’ve lost their matriarch.”

Mary taught poetry to Guilford students from the study-abroad program’s inception in 1992 through 2014. Her course became a defining part of the Brunnenburg experience. So did the excursion she led to Venice, where a city of water, stone and art became another classroom.

Even after she stopped teaching, she remained part of the program’s rhythm. In 2022, she hosted Guilford students for tea, talked with them during walks up the mountain and joined them at a reception in the Brunnenburg museum.

Guilford awarded Mary a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, at Commencement in May 2025. The degree was presented to her by Holly Peterson, Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental & Sustainability Studies, at Brunnenburg that October.

“Mary embodies Guilford’s values of excellence, simplicity and stewardship,” President Jean Bordewich said when the honor was announced. “Her poetry course was a formative experience for many of our students.”