Obituary
Melody Ivins

Melody (Mel) Lynn Ivins, beloved friend, daughter, partner, and sister, passed away at the age of 67 in the early morning hours of March 7, 2023. She left the world from her own bed in her Chapel Hill home, surrounded by her feline familiars, her books and her big sister. Mel was born June 24, 1955, at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska, before Alaska was a state. A military brat, she moved around a lot before she graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with a BA in English. She excelled in the written word as poet, writer, bookseller, activist, professional researcher, and archivist. She is known for standing up for social justice, women’s rights, the poor and the marginalized. With Eva Metzger, her employer at Carolina Library Services, she founded the Women’s Book Exchange as a volunteer supported effort in 1983 “in order to make books by and about women more readily available to all who need them.” A few months later, Spring Brooks joined Melody as co- director. The Duke University Women’s Center, in accepting the donation of the 1500 volume collection in 1993 from Melody and Spring, stated “the importance of this gift cannot be overestimated.” Works included scarce and out of print books from the early Women in Print Movement. Concurrently with her volunteer work for the WBE, Melody managed The Southern Sisters bookstore and worked at the Readery and then the Regulator bookstores also in Durham, and later at the Bookshop in Chapel Hill. She was a researcher and editor for the historian Tim Tyson, contributing to Blood Done Sign My Name and The Blood of Emmet Till, and for other researchers of southern and family history. She was employed by several other organizations, including the UNC Law Library and the Piedmont Sundial, an electronic newspaper. In later years, Melody resumed writing poetry, maintaining an active presence on social media and enjoying a glass of Makers Mark with her friends. Her true genius was for friendships, for which she invested love and thoughtful attention for years and even decades. This can be seen at the very end when her friends, including Spring Brooks and Phil Catlett, helped care for Melody’s elderly mother so that she could seek her own medical treatment. It is evident in her numerous friends and most of all in her dear companion, Steve Darden, who was by her side throughout her diagnosis and treatment for cancer. Family members: Predeceased by her father Reynolds Albert Ivins (1988). Mother Wanda Bess DePriest Ivins of Chapel Hill, NC. Sister October Ivins lives in Abruzzo, Italy with British husband William. October is a stepmother to William’s children, Simon (Deborah) who have Emily and Jack (NSW, Australia), and Kate (Sholto) with sons Hamish and Gabriel (Oxford, England). Brother Ren Ivins, (Sally) of Carrboro, NC. Niece Amber (Tim), Nephew Reynolds (Keri), great-niece Violet. Brother Jeffrey Ivins with his wife Jo Ann (Jody) of O’Fallon, IL. Brother Jonathan (Jon) Ivins, (Belinda) and niece Alexandra (Alex) of Morrison, TN, and niece Lela (Andy) and grandnephew Teddy of Clarksville, TN. Melody had requested that she should have a cremation, which will be handled by City of Oaks Funeral Home, and her ashes interred in the Cooper DePriest Memorial Cemetery between her father and the space designated for her mother on Deer Creek, Perry County, TN. It is on land formerly part of Foxfire, the home her parents built together with their own hands, and where Melody enjoyed recharging with gardening, stargazing, exploring the woodland, and finding arrowheads. The Celebration of Life is planned for April 15. Friends and family in the Chapel Hill area will celebrate Melody’s life and many friendships on Sunday March 19, 3- 5 pm, at Linda’s Bar & Grill. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to UNC Hospice or the charity of your choice.