Ms. Molly Brodak

Died 03/08/2020

Obituary For Ms. Molly Brodak

In profound sorrow we announce the passing of Ms. Molly Brodak on March 8, 2020. Celebration of Life will be Sunday, March 15, 2020 11:00am at Grissom-Clark Eastlake Chapel. Family hour will be Sunday, March 15, 2020 from 10:00am-11:00am.

Molly Brodak, age 39, of Atlanta, GA passed away on Sunday, March 8, 2020. A memorial service to honor Molly’s life and work will take place on Sunday, March 15, from 11am to 1pm with receiving at 10am at Grissom Clark Funeral Home.

Molly, born in Detroit, MI, was the daughter of Nora Tavalieri. She attended the Savannah College of Art and Design and went on to receive her BA in English at Oakland University, followed by an MFA in Creative Writing at West Virginia University. She was a poetry fellow at Emory University when she met Blake Butler, her husband of three years and partner for ten. Molly was a voracious and prolific writer, publishing work in dozens of magazines over two decades, as well as three chapbooks, a book of poetry which won the Iowa Poetry Prize, and a memoir, Bandit. Her unpublished writing includes multiple books that span across genres. In 2018, she was awarded an NEA grant for a nonfiction book project that allowed her travel to Poland to locate the site of her grandparents’ death in the Holocaust. Her second book of poetry, The Cipher, will be published this fall.

Molly was a devoted teacher of writing and literature who taught for fifteen years at numerous institutions, including Emory, Augusta State, SCAD, Georgia College, and Kennesaw State. She was committed to instigating students’ curiosity and critical imaginations while spreading a love of art, language, and the humanities. Her passion for teaching is reflected in the enormous impact she made on her students’ lives. She fought relentlessly to foster care and generate creativity in a difficult world.

She was also the founder and owner of Kookie House, which enabled her to share her incredible cakes and cookies with the world. She had a rare gift for blending fine art with an almost scientific love of creating new recipes to make fantastic confections. Her devotion to research and knowledge was clear not only in her writing and baking, but in her approach to the world, the environment, and humanity. She loved nature and caring for animals, especially her chickens. She had a beautiful heart and mind, and truly touched the lives of all who knew her.

Molly is survived by her husband, Blake Butler; her mother, Nora Tavalieri; a sister, Rebecca Gale; and her husband, Patrick Gale; a nephew, Xander Gale; and her friends and communities.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made as a celebration of Molly’s memory to the Environmental Defense Fund, https://www.edf.org.