Leslie Larson

On November 4th, surrounded by her husband, children, and grandchildren, Leslie Larson departed a vibrant life of purpose and joy. Of all of Leslie’s notable accomplishments, she was most proud of guiding her three children – Chloe, Austin, and Dash – to become the deeply thoughtful, caring, and mutually supportive siblings they are. Leslie was also an exceptionally trusted friend and confidante for many hundreds of people who loved her. More recently, Leslie became “Lulu” to her grandchildren June Kay (4) and Ellis Kay (1). Leslie is also survived by her husband and partner in all things of 42 years, Don Katz; her daughter-in-law, Marie Arlet; her son-in-law, Matthew Kay; her brother, Scott Larson and his wife, Karen Ensslen; and her sister, Kim Neumann and her husband Bill Neumann.

Leslie Jo Larson was born in Lansdale, PA, on April 12, 1956, the daughter of the late Arthur “Bud” Larson and the late Josephine Feldi Larson. She grew up in Cheltenham, PA, and attended Mountain St. Joseph’s Academy. Leslie graduated from Philadelphia’s Lankenau Hospital School of Nursing with an RN degree in 1977 and became a head psychiatric nurse at only 23. She moved to New York City during the 1980s, where she worked at Memorial Sloan Kettering hospital as an oncology nurse, caring for an increasingly large population of men suffering from a rare cancer that would later become known as AIDS. During this time, she also studied psychology and social science at Hunter College, achieving a BA. She changed careers to become a television commercial and film producer for five years, before returning to nursing after the birth of her daughter in 1986. She worked as a psychiatric nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Paterson, NJ; as a childbirth education and lactation counselor at St. Barnabas Hospital; and as a part-time school nurse in the Montclair Public Schools.

Leslie and her husband Don moved from Manhattan’s Upper West Side to Montclair, NJ, in 1989. Over the next 35 years, Leslie devoted herself to public education and the needs of children and families in Montclair and across New Jersey. Her own children are products of the Montclair Public School system, which Leslie served via many different roles. But she cared deeply about children well beyond her own: helping children with special needs, helping kids with limited support at home, helping kids in foster care, teaching teenage mothers how to care for their infants in Newark, and volunteering as a school nurse. She served on the PTA boards at Rand and Renaissance Schools for 12 years; as the volunteer coordinator for Renaissance School for six years; as a Writer’s Room coach at both Glenfield School and Montclair High School; as an AMANI program tutor; and she worked with SVPA. In 2009 she deployed her deep understanding of the school system as vice-president of the Montclair Board of Education, a position she held for six years. Alongside a committed group of fellow women board members who called themselves “the Foxhole Gang,” Leslie was unflappable in her pursuit of policies that prioritized the basic educational rights of children and families, in particular those of greater need. She also created The Katz Family Theater Award, a four-year scholarship awarded to college-bound Montclair High School students pursuing a career in theater.

From the time they met, Leslie and her husband, Don Katz, traveled the world. Leslie was Don’s muse and exacting editorial advisor during his 20 years as a journalist and author, and his closest advisor over the 27 years he founded and led the audio service, Audible. During the first decades, before Audible was a large global brand, she considered herself Audible’s longest-standing unpaid employee. Audible’s renowned Audible Theater effort, which makes outstanding performances and powerful storytelling available to live audiences in New York City and millions of people all over the world, was Leslie’s idea, drawn from her deep knowledge and appreciation for theater. Leslie could spot, name, critique and offer biographical details about relatively unknown actors on almost any stage, screen or subway car.

Leslie assured her family towards the end of her life that she did not fear death, but she also noted that “I am a LOT to lose.” With her loss, legions of family and friends around the world are left wondering who is now going to help them know how to think, what to do, and how to live.

Leslie’s family would like to send special thanks and love to three of her closest friends who fought her disease alongside Leslie and her family by the day: Diane Sutherland, her cousin and oldest lifelong friend; Emily Lazar; and Betsy Lembeck. She loved each of them as they so clearly loved Leslie. Thanks also to the many dozens of medical professionals from Colorado to New York and New Jersey who helped Leslie try so very hard – as one of the toughest, most indomitable people so many have ever known – to fight one of the cruelest of cancers, from her descent from perfect health in early summer to within days of the end. When Leslie realized that with this cancer she had finally met her match, her family was able to love her out of the world with grace in large part because of the nurses and hospice professionals who weighed in.

Leslie’s family also wants to thank their vast community of friends and family for their vigilance and expressions of love, but please refrain from calls or visits for the time being.

Details of a celebration of Leslie’s life will be available in the coming days.

Leslie held the non-profits she supported and advised to a high standard operationally and in terms of impact. Instead of flowers, if friends and admirers want suggestions as to how to honor her, two of her favorites are the New Jersey grief support organization, Imagine, and Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey.