1955 - 2013
Beverly Gail Isis, age 58, succumbed to the aggressive brain cancer known as Glioblastoma Multiforme (aka GBM), on Friday, October 11, 2013 -- thirteen months after diagnosis. She died at her mother's home in Silver Spring, MD.
Born 5/22/55, Bev grew up in Silver Spring, & attended Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School ('73). She studied at many institutions including the University of Barcelona, Cooper Union, & the New York Botanical Garden. Beverly was well-read & accomplished. She loved literature, the arts, & music - in particular, jazz; wrote poetry; achieved fluency in Spanish; studied Portuguese & Italian; played the piano & cello.
She strove to acquire many skills, including bread making, ethnic cuisines, floral arrangement, mosaic, furniture design & construction, upholstery & wood refinishing, & various fine art media, including photography, watercolor, & botanical illustration. A vegetarian, she was knowledgeable about nutrition & herbal remedies.
Beverly spent most of her 20's living in the D.C. area, working as a chef at Food for Thought, an early vegetarian cafe, & later at The Tabard Inn. She also traveled across the country in her VW bus & lived in San Francisco a while during those years.
In 1983 Bev completed a Landscape Design program at George Washington University & moved to Manhattan to start her own garden design & installation business, Primavera. She settled in the Inwood neighborhood (200th St. North - Dyckman Street), where she spent the rest of her life, in an apartment looking out on wild Inwood Hill Park, which she loved. She adopted many homeless dogs over the years; when one dog died, another seemed to find her, & she was often seen walking her dog in the park.
Her career included positions with Riverdale Country School, the NYC Parks Department, & the NY Restoration Project, She loved kids & worked with children at Riverdale School, & supervised teens in summer work programs in the parks. She incorporated progressive ideas in her work, solving drainage problems with water gardens, using native plants, installing green roofs, etc. She served on advisory committees in her neighborhood & worked to create & improve local green spaces.
Bev became interested in Zen Buddhism in her teens, In NY she was part of the circle around Allen Ginsberg & other poets influenced by Tibetan Buddhism & the teachings of Chogyam Trungpa. She had a long relationship with the writer Peter Orlovsky. She took the Boddhisattva vow & strove to be compassionate & kind, helping many who crossed her path. She strove to harness the healing power of nature and beauty in her work.
Bereft survivors include Bev's mother, Joyce Isis, 87; sisters Melanie Isis (Les Bodian) of Silver Spring, MD, & Nancy Dawn Isis of Campbell, CA; & close cousins Patricia Isis of Miami, FL & Julianne Scherker of Manhattan. Bev was the beloved aunt of nephew Spencer Bodian & nieces Anna and Naomi Isis-Brown and Natalie Bodian. She will also be sorely missed by her many friends & other relatives.
Published on NYTimes.com from Oct. 21 to Oct. 22, 2013
