Mary Beth Crawford

Beth was the daughter of Mary Elizabeth Richardson and Arnold Romaine Crawford, and was born and raised in Columbia. She graduated from Dreher High School, where she was an outstanding student and a member of the National Honor Society.

She was a proud alumna of Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, Georgia, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English. She served for three years on the Mademoiselle College Board, was Literary Editor of Aurora, Feature Editor of the Agnes Scott News, and President of B.O.Z., the upperclassmen writing club. An accomplished musician who sang beautifully and played both piano and guitar, she was also a composer and lyricist who wrote and recorded music with her lifelong friend May C. Brown during college, and later performed folk music at numerous venues in the Atlanta area.

Beth was chosen for the Selected Scholars Program in Short Fiction Writing at Harvard University and the Publishing Procedures Program at Radcliffe College. While studying in Boston, she worked as an assistant to the Advertising Manager at Little Brown Publishing Company.

Beth was a skilled journalist and talented author of award-winning short stories and plays. Her work was published throughout her lifetime in publications including the Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Brown’s Guide to Georgia, Mademoiselle, Georgia Magazine, and Southern Voices.

She lived, wrote, and taught in Statesboro, Georgia and Laguna Beach, California before returning to Columbia, where she was a devoted member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation and a dedicated supporter of the South Caroliniana Library. She was a Resident Artist for the South Carolina Arts Commission Arts in Education program in locations throughout the State. Beth enjoyed international travel (with a particular interest in France and Ireland) and was an avid collector of many things, from archaeological treasures to the work of emerging local artists. She pursued her passion for writing until the final weeks of her life.

Beth is survived by her children Christina Parrish Stone (Cliff) of Darien, Georgia; Leo Parrish III (Susan) of Statesboro, Georgia; and Kathleen Parrish Burdette (Warren) of Jackson, Georgia; and her five beloved grandchildren: Matthew Friedl, Marc Parrish-Cotton, Hadley Parrish-Cotton, Haley Parrish, and Liam Parrish-Rainey. She leaves behind a much-loved cousin, Susan Crawford, and very special friends including May C. Brown and Alice Delaney; Margaret Carter; Carole Cato; Gail Ferrick; and Sallie Guess. Her family is grateful to Beth’s neighbors Amanda and Todd Hicks and to Matt Kipp and his family for their generous support during her recent illness.

Beth requested that she be remembered privately, with inurnment in the Unitarian Universalist Congregation Memorial Garden. Donations in her memory to any of the following organizations are welcomed:

South Caroliniana Library, 910 Sumter Street, Columbia, SC 29208; (803) 777-1909

Agnes Scott College, 141 East College Avenue, Decatur, Georgia 30030; (404) 471-6323

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia, 2701 Heyward Street, Columbia, SC 29205; (803) 799-0845