Edith G. (Grossman) Pearlman

Edith Pearlman, a prize-winning short story writer, died in her home in Brookline, MA on January 1, 2023. She was 86. Born to the late Edna (Rosen) & Herman P. Grossman, she was raised in Providence, RI along with her younger sister Betty. At an early age, Edith developed her life-long passion for reading and writing. When nine, she and three classmates formed S.A.P.S. (Saturday Afternoon Playwriting Society). Though by eleven she had changed her genre to short stories, Edith always made time for her craft, despite a myriad of other activities and interests: when working as a computer programmer (IBM, Bolt, Barenek & Newman), during volunteer work (The Women's Lunch Place, Boston Children's Hospital), while active in local politics (Brookline Town Meeting - where she consistently advocated for public education and green public spaces) and along with her commitment to her family.

She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1957. In 1967 she was married to Chester Pearlman and in 1969 they settled in Brookline, MA, where she would live for the rest of her life. Soon after she became a mother to their two children (Jessica, born 1969, and Charles, born 1971). Edith's family life was further enriched by Charles' marriage to Naomi (Shimano) Pearlman, and the addition of a grandson, Joseph Pearlman.

Over the years, Edith's writing was recognized: she had a weekly column in the Brookline Chronicle called "The Walker" based on her lifelong love of walking (and distaste for automobiles), and she had over 100 short stories published in various literary magazines. Several of her stories were chosen to appear in Best American Short Stories, the O'Henry Prize Stories, and The Pushcart Prize.

Edith loved to travel and enjoyed family trips near and far - from the family's almost annual pilgrimage to Brewster, Cape Cod, to Europe, and even a safari in Kenya. Later in life, she explored travel alone and with friends - visiting Latin America and spending a year living in Jerusalem. She also travelled several times to Japan when Charles and Naomi were living there and especially after her grandson, Joseph, was born. Many of these travel adventures eventually found their way into her stories as did many of her relatives, close friends, and colleagues.

While she always worked on her writing, her commercial success came later in her career - her 5 collections of short stories were not published until after she turned 60. Not until 2011 (at 75) did Edith become a nationally recognized writer, when her collection, Binocular Vision, won the National Book Critics Award and was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. In 2016, Brookline High School created the annual Edith Pearlman Creative Writing award in her honor. Modest commercial success and a touch of fame were a welcome validation of her writing skill and offered additional travel opportunities to receive awards and do public readings, but were never the true motivation for her writing. Edith truly enjoyed the creative process and supported informal writing circles in and around Boston, making other lifelong friends throughout.

After Binocular Vision, she published only one more collection of short stories - Honeydew (2015), as cancer and other illnesses ended her gratifying (for her and her readers) writing career.

She is survived by her husband of 55 years, Chester; son, Charles, daughter-in-law, Naomi, and grandson, Joseph, all of Brookline, MA; a daughter, Jessica, of Greenfield, MA; and her sister, Betty Grossman, of Cambridge, MA, as well as several cousins and many friends.

The family will always be grateful for the tireless, professional, loving care that Edith received from her two caretakers, Beatrice Nyakaisiki and Christine Zikusooka.

The family is planning a private burial service and will plan to host a service and celebration of life event later in the year during warmer weather. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the Women's Lunch Place, www.womenslunchplace.org or Boston Children's Hospital, https://www.childrenshospital.org