Kathryn Currier Moody

Kathryn Currier Moody, also known as Kate or Dr. Moody, was a loving mother, grandmother, aunt, sister, mentor and friend. She passed on September 2, 2022 at her home in Sarasota Florida at the age of 83, surrounded by her sons Scott and John Moody. She was born Kathryn Marie Currier on April 3,1939 in Evanston, Illinois to George and Dorothy Currier. After moving to Detroit, Michigan in her youth, one of her great childhood loves was following and playing the sport of baseball, despite being a girl. She remembered, till the end, the 1952 Detroit Tigers and many of her favorite players like Vic Wertz, and Johnny Pesky. Kathryn’s professional passion was her work as a teacher, educator and author. She received a bachelor’s degree in the field of education from the University of Michigan in 1961 and immediately began teaching in the Ann Arbor elementary school system. She later received her Master of Arts in education in 1970, also from the University of Michigan. Kathryn and her first husband, Bill Moody, were married in Michigan in 1961 and moved to Larchmont, NY with their toddlers Scott and John in 1969, where she lived until 2017. She developed many dear friends in the Larchmont/Mamaroneck area, meeting as neighbors at elementary school meetings, during long walks in Manor Park, playing tennis at Flint Park where she won the 1973 women’s tournament, or connecting over an early morning coffee. Oh, how she loved her morning coffee … no cream, no sugar! During her early years in Larchmont, with the growth of Sesame Street programming on PBS, she began to focus on the intersection of education, learning and the growing medium of television. Kathryn helped Jen Baity in the production of the first student run elementary school TV program at Murray Avenue School in Larchmont. This experience later inspired Kathryn’s 1999 book, Children of The Telstar; Early Experiments in school Television Production. In 1980, after years of research, Kathryn authored and published, Growing Up on Television: A Report to Parents which asked serious questions about the cumulative effects of children’s habitual television viewing and its possible impact in reading, imagination, social relationships. In 1983, she married her second husband, Daniel Herbst of Larchmont. They enjoyed sailing, traveling and socializing at the Orienta Beach Club in Mamaroneck. Daniel Herbst passed in 1998. Her work, shifted to the corporate space for a period in the 1980’s serving as the director of corporate development for Nickelodeon, the cable channel for children. Kathryn continued her personal academic growth in the early 1990’s in New York City receiving a second masters degree in 1991 from the Department of Communications in Computing and Technology of Teachers College, Columbia University and then added a doctorate from the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education in 1993, also at Columbia University. In the spring of 1995, Dr. Kathryn Moody, was recruited by the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston Texas to develop a new program addressing reading and dyslexia issues. Among other initiatives, her team built out Open Gates - An advanced telecommunications center for the medical arts and sciences. Working side by side with UTMB president Dr. Thomas N. James was one of her great joys in life. In 2015, she discovered Sarasota Florida when her lifelong friend Mary Barnett from Michigan invited Kathryn to visit her winter home in the Pelican Cove complex. In 2017, she moved permanently to Sarasota and Pelican Cove, fully embracing the beautiful foliage, wildlife, water views and all her wonderful neighbors. She loved visiting the local beaches at the crack of dawn and hosting friends from up north during the colder months. In 2019, after five years of research and travels, her book The People’s Professors of Cuba was published. It looked inside how Cuba, with limited resources, achieved great success teaching reading and writing to its children. She loved traveling the country, interviewing Cuban educators and conversing with locals and young students alike. Above all of her professional accomplishments, Kathryn’s family was her greatest love. She supported and inspired her sons in every pursuit and passion they had from high school and college sports to careers in media and business. Remembered by many of her son John’s high school teammates was “Kate” driving the carpool pickup at 5:30am, making multiple stops around Larchmont so they would make the 6am hockey practice on time at the Hommocks ice rink. Kathryn visited and talked with her grandkids, Anne, Will, Henry, Mae almost every week and they brought her great joy and hope for the future. A little known historical fact about Kathryn that always made her smile happened on July 23,1995. The New York Times made her early book Kate Moody: Growing Up On Television the answer to their acrostic word puzzle. Her love of dogs was legendary. Kathryn’s beloved pups — Susie, Sparky, Kayla, Lucy, Muffy, and Zoey will always be with her in spirit. Kathryn Currier Moody was a true original and her family misses her dearly and prays she is at peace. Kathryn is survived by her sons Scott and John, grandchildren Anne, Will, Henry, Mae and her niece Jane. Her brother Kent Currier predeceased her. Information about upcoming memorial service’s will be forthcoming.

Tributes

Kathryn Currier Moody

September 2, 2022