Caroline Rosenstone

Caroline Rosenstone
April 22, 1953 - June 6, 2023
Caroline Rosenstone, who inspired generations of writing students at the Educational Center for the Arts, the program she founded, died June 6 at her home in New Haven. She was 70.
Caroline was born April 22, 1953 in Patuxent River, MD. She was the daughter of Herbert Joseph Roberts and Helene Gould Roberts. She grew up in Hialeah, FL.
She received her B.A. in English literature from Washington University in St. Louis, graduating Cum Laude in 1974. Four years later, she received her M.F.A. in creative writing from San Francisco State University.
She lived in Berkeley, CA, before moving to New Haven with her husband, Steven Rosenstone. They were married from 1974 to 1985.
Caroline began her service at the New Haven-based Educational Center for the Arts in 1984. As the founder and director of its writing program for 35 years, she led writing workshops and provided one-on-one guidance until her retirement in 2019. Caroline was also a residential writing tutor at Yale's Berkeley College from 1981-85.
Caroline's poetry, essays and humorous writings appeared in many publications, including "Savvy," "The Massachusetts Review," "New Boston Review," "Poets On: Celebrations," "California Quarterly" and "Ms." She sold comedy material to Joan Rivers. Her monologues appeared in "Best Stage Monologues for Men, 1998" and "Best Stage Monologues for Women, 1998." Her monologues were performed in theaters in Connecticut and New York. A screenplay she co-wrote was awarded semi-finalist status in competitions sponsored by the Sundance Institute and the Austin Film Festival.
Her awards included: Mylonas Fellow in the Humanities (awarding her a full scholarship at Washington University), the New England Foundation for the Arts Live Literature Grant, a Wesleyan Writers Conference scholarship, the Robert Browning Prize and the Hatch Prize for Poetry. She was awarded grants from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and the New England Foundation for the Arts.
Caroline strongly advocated for the rights and benefits of teachers and the advancement of local arts organizations. Her legacy is the impact she had on her students, friends and fellow teachers. Caroline cultivated a warm and inviting environment within the ECA Writing Department, helming nonfiction and humor writing workshops that left indelible impressions upon her students. Beloved for her effusiveness and enthusiasm, she filled her classroom with coos, gasps of delight and her signature "Fabulous!" as students read their essays aloud. Caroline modeled a generous, creative spirit and unlocked the power of the written word in invaluable ways for impressionable high schoolers.
She was predeceased by her brother, Kenneth Roberts, for whom she had enormous affection and cared for in his later years. She leaves behind countless friends, many of them in the New Haven arts community.
Charitable contributions in Caroline's name can be made to the Caroline Rosenstone Memorial Scholarship Fund through the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven (https://www.cfgnh.org/articles/caroline-rosenstone-memorial-scholarship-fund) or a charity of one's choice.