Her claim was confirmed in 1998 after research by Abigail Van Buren. The identity of the author of the poem was unknown until the late 1990s, when Frye revealed that she had written it. She never published or copyrighted the poem. Because people liked her twelve-line, untitled verse, Frye made many copies and circulated them privately. The poem for which she became famous was originally composed on a brown paper shopping bag, and was reportedly inspired by the story of a young Jewish girl, Margaret Schwarzkopf, who had been staying with the Frye household and had been unable to visit her dying mother in Germany because of anti-Semitic unrest. This Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep the tragic. Heartbreaking there is no other word to describe it. Our loved ones are not sunlight or diamonds or stars or rain. We want to deny the harsh reality of that cold marble stone in the grass before us. In 1927 she married Claud Frye, who ran a clothing business, while she grew and sold flowers. When we stand at the grave of the one we love, we want to believe Mary. She was an avid reader with a remarkable memory.
She moved to Baltimore, Maryland, when she was twelve. She was born in Dayton, Ohio, and was orphaned at the age of three.
Mary Elizabeth Frye (Novem– September 15, 2004) was an American housewife and florist, best known as the author of the poem “Do not stand at my grave and weep”, written in 1932.
