How many librarians get an NYT obituary?
A Reference librarian at the Library of Congress
Her learnedness became so comprehensive that she opened up new worlds to Mr. Asimov, the pre-eminent popular science writer of his day, and Mr. Sagan, the astronomer who introduced millions of television viewers to the wonders of the universe.
Constance Carter, a longtime colleague, visited Ms. Freitag last year just before the Covid-19 pandemic shut down nursing homes, then lost touch. She finally looked her up on Google this spring and came across the obituary.
In a way, Ms. Freitag was her own analog version of Google, providing answers to a wide array of queries from writers and researchers in astonishing depth and detail decades before computers and the internet transformed the research process.
On an astronomy-focused cruise in 1980, she had dinner with Mr. Asimov and others. He was famous for writing limericks, and on the spot he dashed off a racy one for her:
Said a certain young damsel named Ruth:
“I sit here enjoying my youth!
Between Isaac and Peter
What need for a heater?
I’m burning with love! That’s the truth!”