Artist and designer Freddy Medora Espy Plimpton died in her sleep at the Vermont Respite House on February 22. She was 73.
The daughter of Willard R. Espy and Hilda Cole Espy—both writers—Ms. Plimpton was born in New York City and grew up in Mount Kisco, alongside her twin sister, Mona Schreiber, her younger sisters, Joanna Espy and Cassy Espy, and her younger brother, Jefferson Espy. She graduated from Fox Lane High School in 1959, and then attended Parsons School of Design. In the early 1960s, she moved to New York, where she worked at Random House writing book jacket copy, and later became a photographer’s assistant. Considered one of the great beauties of the time, in 1968 she married author and editor George Ames Plimpton, with whom she later had two children, Medora Ames Plimpton and Taylor Ames Plimpton. She traveled with her husband on the campaign trail during Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 run for the presidency, and was present to witness the great tragedy at the Ambassador Hotel when Mr. Kennedy was shot and killed.
Ms. Plimpton was a talented editor and a trusted reader of some of George Plimpton’s finest work, including his bestseller “Paper Lion.” She also worked intimately with a group of creative personalities, including Mr. Plimpton, Christopher Cerf and Tony Hendra, among others, on Not the New York Times, a spoof of the paper they put out when The Times was on strike in 1978. She was also an accomplished interior designer and Feng Shui master, and her Sagaponack home was featured in Architectural Digest.
Known to her friends as “Forthright Freddy,” Ms. Plimpton was known to be bright, witty and generous, and her sense of wonder and adventure were contagious, survivors said. A great lover of the ocean and the night sky, as well as local bird- and wild-life, she spent much of the last 30 years of her life as a resident of Southampton. A devoted sister, mother and grandmother, she was always at her best when caring for the people she loved, according to survivors.
She is survived by her sisters and her children, as well as by her grandchildren, Addison Ames Harris and Tanner Plimpton Harris.
Memorial donations may be made to the Vermont Respite House, 99 Allen Brook Lane, Williston, VT 05495.
on Feb 23, 2015