Rhoda L. Flaxman

Dr. Rhoda Leven Flaxman passed away on March 10th at her home in Charlotte, North Carolina. She leaves behind her best friend and husband, Dr. B. Allen Flaxman, of Charlotte; her children Cynthia (Ted), David (Alicia), and Jessica (Jake), of Charlotte, NC; Seekonk, MA; and Mamaroneck, NY, respectively. Her beloved daughter, Lisa (Jonathan), of Chevy Chase, MD, predeceased her in 2009. Rhoda’s 11 grandchildren—Madeline, Ben, Hana, Koby, Sophie, Alex, Tessa, Julia, Zachary, Jack and Lydia—will miss their Meme dearly. 

Rhoda was born in New York, the oldest daughter of Pauline and Irving Leven. The family moved from Syracuse, NY to Providence, RI when Rhoda was 12. After graduating from Classical High School in Providence, she went on to graduate from Bryn Mawr College as well as Teachers College at Columbia University. In the early part of her career, Rhoda taught high school English and later founded a school named “Our House” in Philadelphia. Rhoda completed her doctorate at Brown University and taught English at Wheaton College and Brown University, where she guided students through survey courses on British and American letters. While at Brown, Rhoda also ran the Writing Fellows Program, a peer-tutoring program matching undergraduate writing tutors with professors in support of various classes and seminars. 

After her family and friends, what Rhoda loved best were her students, books, and travel, particularly to Paris, France. Her own book, Victorian Word-Painting and Narrative: Toward the Blending of Genres, published in 1982, focused on the painterly aspects of works by Dickens and Tennyson, among other greats of the Victorian era. Rhoda originated the term, word-painting, to describe the "fusing [of] the narrative, the descriptive, and the dramatic to illustrate the metaphorical journey toward the discovery of self." 

Rhoda’s early fascination with the interplay of nature and the human psyche never faded. Her lifelong appreciation of the beauty and drama of nature ultimately drew her to Wellfleet in retirement, where she and Allen made their residence permanent in 2002. She found tremendous inspiration and strength not only in the landscape of the Cape but from its people, and was passionate in her desire to contribute to its culture and community through the founding of The Open University of Wellfleet in 2012, an organization dedicated to year-round continual learning celebrating the Cape’s rich history and culture and drawing on the talents and expertise of its residents. Rhoda delighted in recruiting and supporting teachers for the OUW and herself offered courses on topics ranging from “Cape Cod Memoirs” to “Irish Literature” to “Henry James Goes to Paris”. During the same time, she ran a reading group at the Providence Athenaeum devoted to analysis of British, Russian, and Irish literature.

Rhoda will be laid to rest in Wellfleet, MA, where there will be a celebration of her life this summer.