Lawrence Stewart Marsden
Education: BA Non-profit Management
Work: writer
Mother: Millicent S. Marsden Father: Lawrence Albert Marsden .
Marital Status: Divorced
Brothers: John Daniel Marsden
Sisters: Millicent Marsden Parker , Andrea Marsden Morgan
Children: Jessica Marsden Clarkson , Graham Marsden , Peter Marsden , Livia Marsden , Lily Marsden
Skip grew up in High Point, North Carolina. Attended Tomlinson Elementary School and Ferndale Junior High School. He eembarked to Woodbury School in Orange, Virginia where he finished high school. He attended Virginia Tech, studying to become an architect. In his senior year he met his first wife, Margaret Ferriter. He left Virginia Tech for High Point University getting a BA. Margaret and Skip went to the Big Apple, hoping to make a career in theatre and writing. Their first child, Jessica, was born there. They didn’t make it in NYC, but was active in local theatre productions. He authored the successful musical “A Couple of Times a Year”, which was produced by a N.C. Grass Roots Act Bill. Skip wrote the music, lyrics, and book to this production. He starred as Captain Von Trapp Stinky and the Nightmarin “Sound of Music”, where he met his second wife, Margaret , who played opposite him as Maria. In Hendersonville, N.C., Hickory, and Banner Elk, he went on to play Scrooge in “A Christmas Story”, Alfred P. Doolittle in “My Fair Lady”, and Don Quixote in “Man of La Mancha”.
Family was very important to my brother, producing two children with his first wife and a second family of three children with his second wife. He passed his love of music, art, and life to his multi-talented children. I recent years, Skip lived in Sugar Mountain, N.C. enjoying the beautiful scenery and colorful local people. He authored two published books: “Through the Glass Darkly” and a children’s book, ” Stinky and the Nightmare”.
Memories
Friends & Family
Skip thought he was an auto mechanic. He took my prized English baby-doll pram and used all four wheels to make a soap box car! The revenge was justified, as my sister, Kim, and I would put Skip into the buggy, and with one swift push, send him flying down the sidewalk, uneven from tree roots pushing the concrete into craters. It is amazing that he lived to grow up to be the amazing father that he became!
As Doctor Skip, he found a favorite doll of mine, that I’d carefully and lovingly boxed up for my future daughters to have.
He decided the doll needed emergency surgery and amputated all of the baby’s limbs.
Maybe he was getting his revenge for the time when my sister and I holding a terrified two year old, Skip, over the bathroom toilet and threatening to flush him down to “doo-doo land.” So, I guess I deserved the wheel-less buggy and the amputated baby doll!
In the 1970’s, Skip met his first wife, Margaret Ferriter, at a peace rally. The had a very 70’s “Flower Child” wedding outside, in the countryside, with the bridal party dressed in flowing floral gowns and fresh flowers in their hair. Skip and Maggie soon made off for New York City to find their fame in acting and writing. Their first child, Jessica, was born there. They didn’t get their big break and moved back to North Carolina, where their son, Graham, was born. Music and theater was a large part in their familie’s life. Sadly, their marriage broke apart.
Skip met his second wife, Margaret Moylan, while playing the lead, Captain Von Trapp, in a Durham, N.C. production of “Sound of Music.” Margaret was cast as Maria. Margaret graduated from Duke University, and they were married in the Chapel on Duke’s campus. The wedding guest were seated when a beautiful duet, sung by Skip and his bride- to- be, suddenly encased the audience in the most beautiful words sung to each other. The couple were completely hidden from view. Skip and Margaret moved to Oregon, where she obtained a midwifery degree. Their next stop was Hendersonville, N.C. They were both very involved in both the Ensemble Stage in Henderson, and stage productions in Asheville.
Skip was proud to play Scrooge in ” A Christmas Carol”, Alfred P. Dootlittle in “MyFair Lady” and Don Quixote in “Man of La Mancha”. In the 70’s, he wrote the musical “A Couple of Times a Year”. When Skip wasn’t writing, he loved to strum on his guitar and play his harmonica. His family members were all blessed with amazing vocal talent and the less talented, tone death, members were fortunate to reap the rewards!
I have mentioned my brother’s prolific writing skills and would like to share one of his poems, written in 2014. It was printed with his obituary.
Waiting to be Called
Long laid low along the ridge the Old Man rests , his crusty visage staring ever upward,
waiting, waiting, waiting to be called, when he will rise to stand o’re all and look about, The blue- hazed land rolling out to distanced watered shores,
And he will shake his grizzled beard, and wipe his gnarled brow and take his first stiff step, then more,
The residue of his millennialed nap falling to the forested floor as he glides agefully away with the day’s last light,
His stately shoulders shrouded “neath the cooling night.
L. Stewart Marsden
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