Lawrence Carlin

Lawrence L. Carlin, age 78, died on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia after a two-year battle with cancer. His wife of 44 years, Mary Freedman, was with him. In addition to his wife, he leaves behind Barbara Nagle (sister-in-law), Terry Nagle (brother-in-law) and dear family friends Sam Cohen, Alan Rose and Jim and Lois Turner.

Larry was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Fresh Meadows, New York. At age twelve, after a traumatic move to Cleveland, Ohio, where there were Indians (baseball team) and no egg creams, he attended and graduated from Shaker Heights, Ohio public schools. He attended and graduated from Earlham College in Richmond Indiana. Post graduate work was done at Temple University in Philadelphia and Kent State University in Ohio from which he received a master’s degree in library science.

 Libraries and databases formed the basis of Larry’s career. First as a public librarian at Rocky River Library in Rocky River, Ohio and then at Time Warner in New York City. He retired from the Foundation Center where he was the Application Development Manager.  While working in New York City, Larry and Mary lived in Connecticut where she worked as a librarian. They moved from Connecticut to New York City and, after retirement to Philadelphia. 

 Larry viewed retirement as a time he could follow his biological clock. He was known for never getting up before noon and never going to bed before three. Larry maximized the time by reading all the books he was unable to read while working. Larry was a life-long learner and he and Mary had a collection of books that, at one time, threatened to take over the house. His interests were broad and included everything from Walt Kelly’s Pogo comics to Second Temple history to all of Mark Twain’s works. He loved learning about Chinese landscape paintings and had a fine collection of humor books. A perfect vacation for Mary and Larry was exploring new and used bookstore. They never came home empty handed.

 He and Mary shared a love of music, and they enjoyed every genre except for Country and Western. He considered the Rolling Stones the greatest rock band ever, and Beethoven’s Fifth the perfect symphony. His favorite composer was Charles Ives and Larry spent a great deal of time trying to prove Ives knew Mark Twain through Reverend Joseph Twitchell, Ives’ father-in-law. He admired the music of Miles Davis, John Lee Hooker and Frank Zappa.

 Kind and caring, Larry always looked on the bright side of life. He was able to see the comic aspect of even the direst of circumstances and believed a sense of humor could see you through the worst of times. He loved subjecting old and new friends alike to a story about a great hunter capturing a very rare animal that, after a long and winding narrative, ended in a pun that would make everyone groan.

 Larry’s Jewish culture and heritage were important to him. While he chose a different path in life, in 1968, he was in the first class of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. He and Mary, a Jesuit educated Catholic, would have long discussions centering around the Bible. Each Lent they would spend Friday evenings discussing a book of the Old Testament.

 While not a direct volunteer, Larry supported Mary’s work at Faith Food & Friends, Old St. Joseph’s Church outreach program. Meeting many of the guests on his daily walks, Larry would always take the time to stop and chat and talk about the day. He spoke highly of the program to friends and, while sitting in Washington Square Park one day, Larry acted as a recruiter, directing a man to go to the program for help with housing and a meal. 

 Cremation will be private.  A Memorial Service and Celebration of Larry’s life is planned for some time in the New Year. Specifics will be posted here. Memorial donations in memory of Larry Carlin can be directed to:

Faith Food & Friends

Old St. Joseph’s Church

321 Willings Alley

Philadelphia, PA 19106