Russell E. Blunt (April 24, 1908, in Andover, Massachusetts – January 7, 2004, in Durham, North Carolina) was an American high school and collegiate track and basketball coach. Blunt's mother moved to Massachusetts from Virginia to work as a domestic. His family lived in Massachusetts' Merrimack Valley during a time when the Black population was tiny, but he recalled the large annual church picnic outing that families from neighboring Lynn, Lowell, and Haverhill would attend each summer in Salem, Massachusetts. He attended the old Punchard High School. As a young man and collegian, Russell earned money by waiting tables in the dining hall at the famed Andover Prep school (Phillips Academy). He also played semipro baseball for the St. Clair Oil Company team, the Andover Giants, and a team c