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Karie Lazarus Friedman ’61

A poet and lover of languages, Kearvelle (Karie) studied Latin, Greek, Danish, Swedish, Chinese, and Portuguese. She grew up in Los Angeles and began writing poetry at Reed, where she majored in French and English literature. Karie wrote her thesis, “Common Hieroglyphicks: A Study of Sir Thomas Browne’s Pseudodoxia Epidemica and Other Works,” with Prof. William Whallon [English 1957–62] advising. “Learning to cut to the heart of the matter and to speak plainly were the two most useful lessons I brought away from Reed,” she said. She married fellow Reedie John Friedman ’60 in 1962, and the couple divorced in 1987.

For many years, Karie worked as an editor on small literary journals, for the Michigan State University Press, as assistant editor of the physics journal Reviews of Modern Physics, and as editor of the online newsletter ICAMNews.

In 2005, she moved from Seattle to rural Maine, embarking on a second career as a poet. She earned an MFA in creative writing from New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire, and was an active member of Maine’s poetry community. Her poems have appeared in numerous literary magazines, including Atlanta Review, Barrow Street, The Naugatuck River Review, The Indian River Review, and Off the Coast, as well as the 2013 anthology Best Indie Lit New England. A selection of her poems can be found at www.kariefriedman.com. In addition to her literary interests, Karie loved classical guitar, jazz, travel, cooking, and spending time in her gardens. She is survived by her two daughters, Jayne Friedman and Anna Edlund, and her siblings, Jonathan, Dianne, and Peter.

Appeared in Reed magazine: March 2018

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