In Memory

Marilyn Stout Riley (Harris) VIEW PROFILE

Marilyn Stout Riley (Harris)

Marilyn Stout Riley (Harris) of Decatur, Ga. 

May 22, 1939 - July 29, 2023

 

Marilyn Stout Riley Harris passed away on July 29, 2023, at the age of 84.

Marilyn was born in Decatur, GA, attended Morningside Elementary, Chamblee and Needham Broughton High Schools, Georgia State and Emory Universities. She is survived by her brother, Christopher Riley and his family in Decatur, the Stout families of California and Dublin; her two cats, Boo and Cotton; and her beloved poodle, Bonnie.

Marilyn received the first Ph.D. in English awarded by Georgia State University, in 1974. She was a scholar who taught in Georgia for thirty-two years in the city of Atlanta, Morrow Sr. High School, and part-time at several community colleges. She loved sponsoring school newspapers and teaching Advanced Placement English Literature. She was an educator who had a lasting impact on countless students over her long career.

Marilyn was a world traveler who visited over 50 countries with over 40 trips to see birds in their natural habitats. She was a member of Atlanta Audubon and a Master Birder with a life list of over 2000 birds she had observed. She was a watercolorist who photographed her travels and birds observed, then recreated those images in her watercolor paintings.

She was a lifelong learner, an avid reader who participated in multiple book clubs, and gave of herself and her time volunteering for several charitable organizations and social justice causes over the years. 

As a final legacy, Marilyn chose to make sizeable donations to Books for Keeps and Longleaf Educational Services. With her gift, Longleaf is establishing The Marilyn Harris Teachers Scholarship which will be a central scholarship and feature of the Longleaf Writers Conference starting in 2024. The scholarship will provide fully funded registration and housing for writing teachers to work directly with award-winning professional writers and poets at the annual conference.

Sources of the obituary: The Atlanta Journal Constitution, August 20, 2023; and Legacy.com. 





Click here to see Marilyn Stout's last Profile entry.