Singer-Songwriter Dies of Cancer

Revere "Reeve" Little '67-'70, a singer-songwriter and direct descendent of revolutionary Paul Revere, died of leukemia Friday.

Little was 49.

"The music world has lost a true original with the passing of our dear friend Reeve Little," classmate and longtime friend Gov. William F. Weld '66, told the Associated Press.

"He was at the same time kind and gentle, an enormous physical presence and always totally irrepressible," Weld said.

"None of us ever met anyone quite like him," he said.

Little, a Harvard Square resident and owner of the real estate firm Brattle Associates, entered Harvard in 1963.

He took a leave of absence two years later to join the Coast Guard and then went to Los Angeles and San Francisco to start his singing career.

He eventually returned to Harvard and graduated in 1970, the Associated Press reported.

In 1984, Little was diagnosed with leukemia and spent the next several years helping to promote the blood and platelet donor programs at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where he was a patient, according to press reports.

His old friend and blues singer Bonnie Raitt '72 and several smaller acts performed a 1992 benefit concert in the Orpheum Theater in Boston to honor Little and to help defray his medical costs.

A portion of the proceeds were donated to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, according to Associated Press reports.

Little is survived by his wife, Wendy Anne Christensen and his son Christian R. His parents, Robert A. and Ann of Cleveland and a brother, Robert R. of Philadelphia, also survive him.