Siddhesh Joshi (Editor)

Mary Elizabeth Frye

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Name
  
Mary Frye


Role
  
Author

Mary Elizabeth Frye wwwpoetseersorgwpcontentuploadsMaryFryejpg

Full Name
  
Mary Elizabeth Clark

Born
  
November 13, 1905 (
1905-11-13
)
Dayton, Ohio

Resting place
  
Baltimore City, Maryland

Spouse(s)
  
Claud Frye (m. 1927–1964)

Died
  
September 15, 2004, Balti, Maryland, United States

Do not stand at my grave and weep by mary elizabeth frye read by tom o bedlam


Mary Elizabeth Frye (November 13, 1905 – September 15, 2004) was an American housewife and florist, best known as the author of the poem Do not stand at my grave and weep, written in 1932.

Contents

She was born in Dayton, Ohio, United States, and was orphaned at the age of three. She moved to Baltimore, Maryland, when she was twelve. She was an avid reader with a remarkable memory. She married Claud Frye, who ran a clothing business, while she grew and sold flowers. The poem for which she became famous was originally composed on a brown paper shopping bag, and was reportedly inspired by the story of a young Jewish girl, Margaret Schwarzkopf, who had been staying with the Frye household and had been unable to visit her dying mother in Germany because of anti-Semitic unrest. Because people liked her twelve-line, untitled verse, Frye made many copies and circulated them privately. She never published or copyrighted the poem.

The identity of the author of the poem was unknown until the late 1990s, when Frye revealed that she had written it. Her claim was confirmed in 1998 after research by Abigail Van Buren.

Do not stand at my grave and weep by mary elizabeth frye poetry reading


References

Mary Elizabeth Frye Wikipedia