MADISON - Susan Stanford Friedman, a beloved mother, grandmother, wife, scholar, mentor, and friend, died February 26, 2023, aged 79, after a valiant but unwinnable fight with pancreatic cancer. Susan was a fierce supporter of her family, friends, colleagues, and students. She was kind and compassionate, generous with her time, and an inspiration to many. She was outraged by injustice and passionate about supporting marginalized voices and communities.

A world-renowned modernist scholar, Professor Emerita Friedman was a trailblazer in teaching world literature that represented all cultures and backgrounds. She was a mentor to so many students and colleagues, deeply influencing their lives. She served as Director of the UW - Madison Institute for Research in the Humanities, chaired the UW English Department, was a founding member of the UW Women's Studies program, and published widely in modernist studies, narrative theory, feminist theory, women's writing, migration and diaspora, world literature, religious studies, and psychoanalysis. Susan was the recipient of many honors and awards, including a Chaired Professorship, the Perkins Prize for Best Book in Narrative Studies, the Wayne C. Booth Award for Lifetime Achievement in Narrative Studies, Hilldale Professor in the Humanities, and numerous teaching awards. She was a sought after lecturer at universities all over the world and had her work translated into 11 different languages.

Susan was born in Bluefield, WV, to Ralph and Anne Stanford. She graduated from Swarthmore College and received her Ph.D. in English Literature from UW-Madison. Susan's greatest joy came from her role as mom and grandma. She was deeply proud of her daughters' accomplishments and looked forward to spending time with her grandchildren and watching them flourish. She relished mornings spent in the kitchen nook with her beloved husband while watching the birds at her birdfeeders and completing the paper's daily crossword puzzle. She enjoyed walking and kayaking at Lake Wingra; cooking for and hosting friends; traveling the world; swimming in the ocean, especially Block Island, Rhode Island where she traveled annually for 50 years; cheering on Badger football and basketball; and drinking a good Manhattan. She also had a vicious forehand on the tennis court.

A resident of Madison for more than 50 years, Susan is survived by her husband, Professor Emeritus Edward Friedman; her children: Ruth and Joanna; their husbands: Pete and Ahmed; her grandsons: Dylan Weber and Nazar El-Baltimy; her sisters: Beth and Jeanne; her nieces and nephew: Anne, Emily, and Karl; and a community of close friends. She was predeceased by her cherished grandson Owen Weber. She is missed and remembered.

A memorial service to celebrate Susan's life will be held on April 15, 2023 in Madison, and a gathering to celebrate her work and contributions will be held later this year.

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Madison, WI

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Published by Madison.com on Mar. 5, 2023.

Memories and Condolences
for Susan Friedman

Sponsored by Cress Funeral & Cremation Service - Madison West.

8 Entries

Herb Lewis

February 28, 2024

Susan was so often there. Although she and I were in different fields I cannot count the many times we were in the same seminar (often she was running it), at the same lecture, in the same discussion group. She was always open to new ideas and it was a pleasure to see her "at work," watching her agreeable but serious search for information and perspectives. She was such an asset to our community, intellectual and social. I am so sorry we can´t continue our conversatioins!

Susan M. Rochette

February 28, 2024

" Time is duration set out by measures." John Locke. "All shall be well. And all manner of things shall be well." Julian of Norwich.

I hope you are enjoying the company of all good angels, Dr. Friedman.

Susan Rochette

Susan Rochette

April 26, 2023

Dr. Friedman compelled me, while I was nursing my only son back in the day in Newton, MA and although laws were passed, even women were not hiring women at libraries if they became pregnant, with a book I took of the shelf and read while nursing. _Pysche Reborn_ was a wonder of scholarship and although I was not hired at the library, I did study with Ms. Stanford, briefly, at UW-Wisconsin. To quote Ezra Pound's love, Hilda, "It is all spirit, but spirit in different forms." No victory, except through death. Susan changed every trajectory of my life and the life of my son.

Helen Ruth Klebesadel

April 15, 2023

Susan Stanford Friedman was my professor in WGS and served on my MFA committee. Her influence on my thinking, teaching, and art cannot be understated. Her clarity on the importance of intersectional of feminism in the world and the academy, and on art and scholarship as activism was a beacon for those of us who were warmed by her light and graced by her presence. My heart is with her family and close friends.

Suzanne Harp

March 26, 2023

Susan was my prof when I was in graduate school for my MFA in art. She also served on my graduate committee. She was a strong advocate of my feminist work and pushed me to do my best work. She´s always had a place in my heart as one who supported me and saw me. Blessings on her passing.

Debra Bernardi

March 7, 2023

Susan Friedman was my teacher (I'm a professor now at a college in Montana), when I was a rabid younger feminist scholar in a PhD program of Women's Writing and Feminist Theory. She was the only grad school teacher I remember who actually seemed to have thought specifically about grad student pedagogy--and I used one of her writing rubrics just last semester. And when, years after I left Madison, I wanted to teach in Italy, she helped set me up with connections. Turns out, like everyone else, the Italians love Susan! I will be forever grateful to her. My heartfelt condolences to her family. Warmest thoughts, Debra Bernardi, Helena, Montana

The Staff of Cress Funeral & Cremation Service

March 5, 2023

Offering our deepest condolences during this difficult time.

George Savage

March 4, 2023

I admired Susan for her lack of pretension and for being an effective advocate for the humanities.
She broke the English Professor mold.
She seems irreplaceable.

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