Corey Ross Freedman

1961 - 2025

Anacortes - Boatsman and builder of traditional Aleutian kayaks, musician and beloved member of the community of Anacortes, Corey Freedman died on Monday, May 5 at age 63. Corey grew up in Livingston, New Jersey, many thousands of miles away from the Aleutian vessels and culture he first read about at 17. Eleven years later, in 1989, he arrived in Anacortes, having purchased a goat barn that he'd renovate into what became the Skin Boat School and Spirit Line Kayaks.

Corey had his first guest before he had running water, with only sleeping bags in the hayloft. For the next 35 years, he'd never turn anyone away from his home. His workshop (and classes at the Wooden Boats Schools in Seattle and Port Townsend) became a space where individuals from all walks of life and corners of the world came to build traditional kayaks called baidarka. For many, Corey also created a space for free expression and comfort. His boats, made of yellow cedar and nylon fabric, were incredibly lightweight and never touched by power tools. The New York Times covered Corey and his work twice, in 1998 and 1999. Reporter Tina Kelley wrote that Corey's "low-key manner" put his students "at ease immediately." Corey told Kelley of his boats, "If you do them right, they'll be like your personality. One may be playful, one may be conservative."

Corey's workshop and home was always full of food - from Italian family dinners to Asian stir-fries prepared in his beloved wok - and music. Corey taught himself how to play the acoustic guitar as a teen, strumming "House of the Rising Sun" over and over again. He performed locally alongside friends and bandmates at the Brown Lantern and in his home, and also played the harmonica and jaw harp. Corey loved his pet dogs, cats and birds, art, travel and photography. Later in life he fell in love with pickleball, a sport akin to the ping pong he enjoyed and dominated in his youth. His teammates remarked that he often played at all levels, a rarity in "good pickleball players."

In 1999, Corey told The New York Times, "I think it's a romance. People just fall in love with them, and they don't know why." He was talking about his kayaks. But he could have been talking about himself, his life, his presence in the community of Anacortes and beyond, the way people would fall in love with his exceptional energy, enthusiasm, gentleness and inclusiveness. Corey was a one-of-a-kind soul.

He's survived by his mother and father, Davita and Harold Freedman, also of Anacortes, Wash., sister, brother-in-law, and niece, Beth, Ron and Sukee Bennett of Boulder, Colo., and many, many dear friends. His family plans on celebrating Corey's life this summer on the local coastline he cherished. Details to follow.