Anne Palms Chalmers

A link to view the livestream funeral service can be found here.

ANNE LARDNER PALMS CHALMERS

December 20, 1942 – September 27, 2025

Anne Lardner Palms Chalmers died peacefully at home in Needham, Massachusetts on September 27, 2025 after a long illness.  At her side was her loving wife, Holly Gunner. She is also survived by her son, Christopher Chalmers, and her brother and his wife, Tony and Ann Palms.  Born on December 20, 1942, she grew up in Washington, DC. She attended the Potomac School, was graduated from Smith College, and earned a Masters degree from NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts. During study for her Master’s degree, Anne attended London’s Courtauld Institute of Art and won an internship in the Rare Books department of New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Anne was a talented watercolorist whose paintings were primarily of nature and landscapes. She loved the structure of trees, clouds and water. A Signature Member of the New England Watercolor Society, Anne also was active, as a long-time resident, in the Newton Art Association. Her work was shown at juried shows of the Guild of Boston Artists.

Music was also a central part of her life. Her love of choral music came from her parents, Anne and Francis Palms, Jr. For many years, Anne sang with, and was on the board of, Musica Sacra, a well-known group in Cambridge. A member of the Boston Early Music Festival Corporation, in her early adult years Anne sang with another local choral group, Quadrivium, and performed in the Christmas Revels. These groups benefited from her skill as a graphic artist because she designed many of their programs and publicity pieces.

Anne applied her skills as a graphic artist and undergraduate degree as an English major to the craft of book design. For nearly three decades, she was a Senior Designer at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Trade Book Division, and also did freelance work for Beacon Press. Her career started at the independent publisher of fine books, David Godine. A woman who worked exceptionally well with people, she was assigned to design the books of many prominent authors, including poet Mary Oliver, Alison Bechdel, Donald Hall (America’s Poet Laureate), and Jonathan Safran Foer. She did the complex designs of the Peterson Field Guides series, as well as a guide to birds by the famous birding author, Kenn Kaufman.  Anne also was tapped to be Houghton Mifflin’s Senior Designer of Cookbooks, including the Gourmet Magazine volumes. In her final years, as a resident of retirement community North Hill, she worked with museum artist Helen Meyrowitz to place images of Meyrowitz’s paintings in a community publication. Throughout her life, Anne Palms Chalmers lived in and helped create a world of beauty, light and the creative spirit.

Funeral Service at Temple Israel, 477 Longwood Ave., (parking on the Riverway), Boston, MA on Tuesday, September 30, 2025 at 11:00 am. A livestream link can be found at brezniakfd.com. Interment to follow at Newton Cemetery, 791 Walnut St., Newton, MA. Memorial observance info to be shared at funeral. In lieu of flowers, donations in Anne’s memory may be made to The Potomac School, c/o Development Department, 1301 Potomac School Road, McLean, VA 22101 or ACLU of Massachusetts Foundation, One Center Plaza, Suite 850, Boston, MA 02108.