Laurence F. Sheehan

Laurence Francis Sheehan, writer, died Saturday, September 24, 2022, at his home in Ashfield. He was 82 years old.

Larry was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on January 11, 1940, to Albert Thomas Sheehan and Helen (Doughan) Sheehan. He was the youngest of three sons, later joined by a sister. He graduated from Amherst College in 1961, majoring in English. His was the first creative-writing thesis to be accepted in the department. Larry’s first job out of college was writing obituaries for the Hartford Courant. From 1962 to 1965, he served in the U.S. Army’s 766th Intelligence Corps, stationed in France. He and his first wife, Valerie Harms, began raising their first child, Aurelie, in the small village of Manhuelles, a few kilometers from Verdun. In 1965, the family returned to the U.S., and Larry took a job as managing editor at Golf Digest in Norwalk, Connecticut, where their second child, Alex, was born.

In 1966, Larry began a career as a freelance editor and writer, which he continued for the rest of his working life. Besides publishing humor pieces, essays, and stories in The Atlantic and other national magazines, he wrote and edited books about sports, including with tennis and golf icons Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, and Sam Snead. With Sal Gilbertie, he wrote several books on gardening, beginning with Home Gardening at Its Best (1977) and finally Cooking with Microgreens (2015). He wrote for television as well, including the series Animal Express, a venture with the San Diego Zoo.

In 1983, Larry married Carol Sama Sheehan. In 1991, the couple moved to their beloved Bear River Farm in Ashfield. Along with two friends, Larry and Carol developed a series of design- and lifestyle-focused titles, among them The Sporting Life—A Passion for Hunting and Fishing (1992) and Living with Dogs (1999). Larry also wrote A Commonwealth of Golfers: A Centennial Tribute to the Game and Its Players for the Massachusetts Golf Association.

After Carol’s death in 2013, Larry turned his literary focus to projects of deep personal significance, beginning with After: A True Story of Love, Loss, Grief, and the Solace of Remembrance. He wrote Christmas Carol 2.0: Just Say Humbug; Archie, A Cocker Spaniel; Animal Tales: Fables of Fur, Feather, and Fang; and Prayers for Parlous Times, limited editions published by Impress press in Williamsburg.

Larry was a passionate and inspired gardener who liked nothing more than producing tomatoes or a handful of herbs for Carol’s delicious dinners or overseeing a blueberry-picking expedition with a fascinated grandchild. He was also an avid reader. For years, he wrote a monthly book review of new and noteworthy books at the Belding Memorial Library for The Ashfield News. He played tennis, mulled over the merits of Bordeaux, brushed up on his French, and in general had fun with friends all his life. Never a snob, Larry was yet a man of great erudition, wisdom, and wit, known to make kids, postal workers, and all who crossed his path gasp and/or laugh with his perceptive, sometimes biting commentary. Somehow or other he didn’t make writing seem hard enough, as his daughter and granddaughter took up the mantle afterward. His son, Alex, was a frequent compatriot as a kid on Larry’s trips to visit star athletes, and submitted, too, to his dad’s baseball coaching in his grade school years.

Larry is survived by his children and their families: Aurelie Sheehan (Reed Karaim) and Alex (Pippa) Sheehan, grandchildren Alexandra, Lexi, Derrick, and Taylor; as well as his sister Kathy Baur.

If desired, donations in his honor may be made to Dakin Animal Shelter or the Massachusetts Audubon Society.

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