Patricia Murphy Carter, poet, author, professor
Patricia Murphy Carter, poet, author, professor, and devoted wife and mother, passed quietly at Leeland, the Carter family home in Shepherdstown, W.Va., Sunday, May 5, 2013. She was born Dec. 15, 1924, in Providence, R.I., 15 minutes after her identical twin sister, Nancy Murphy Adams.
The daughter of Helene Barnes of Alliance, Ohio, and Col. John George Murphy of New York City, she travelled extensively as a child as part of a U.S. Army family that resided in numerous American cities, the Philippine Islands, and eastern China. She attained a doctorate in English literature and a master's in reading progress management from George Washington University. Her primary academic focus was the life and work of George Bernard Shaw, and she was a contributing author of the book "Dionysian Shaw," published in 2004 by the Pennsylvania State University Press.
Over her professional career she served as an adjunct professor of English, Drama, and Poetry at George Washington University, American University, Catholic University of America, Georgetown University and the Sidwell Friends School, all in Washington, D.C. Living in Frankfurt, Germany, with her family in the early 1960s, she co-founded the Frankfurt International School. A volume of poetry, "So Close," containing her work and the work of her twin sister was published in 1996 by Chestnut Hill Press. Two novellas, "Berkeley Boarding" and "San Francisco Dance," were published in 2002. Her other work comprises a large portfolio of fiction, essays, criticism, and stage plays. A new volume of her complete poetry will be published this summer.
She is survived at Leeland by Woodbury Carter, her loving husband of 62 years. Other surviving family members include her brother, John G. Murphy of Washington, D.C.; and her six children: Ellen Carter Woodbridge of College Park, Md., Sarah Carter of Shepherdstown, Woodbury Vaulx Carter of Baltimore, Md., Matthew Carter of Washington, D.C., Thomas Carter of Cabin John, Md. and Sam Carter of New York City. She is also celebrated and blessed by her eight grandchildren, Rose Carroll, Margaret Byrne, Genevieve Byrne, Sam Byrne, Emma Byrne, Zoe Carter-Woodbridge, Eli Carter-Woodbridge, Vaulx Carter; and three great-grandchildren Mataya, Michael, and Jonah. She was preceded in death by her sister Marjorie Blanc; and her twin Nancy Murphy Adams.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, June 15, at 1 p.m. at St. Peter's Church, 211 Mulberry St., Lewes.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Animal Welfare Society of Jefferson County, 23 Poor Farm Road, Kearneysville, WV 25430, or Trinity Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 308, Shepherdstown, WV 25443.
"Poetry It flushes up our cheeks, brushes and curls our ear shells Moves sharply against the drum of mind. When it has channeled and found its breath Yes, yes, yes, we say, as lovers do. -Patricia Murphy Carter
