The wife of celebrated poet William Carlos Williams and an integral part of his work as both physician and man of letters, "Flossie" Williams was the inspiration for "Asphodel, That Greeny Flower", a poem written when the couple were in their maturity. A long time resident of Rutherford, NJ, she was the second of two children, both girls, born to Paul and Nanny (nee Malmfred) Herman, an affluent couple of German and Norwegian origins. The Hermans moved to Rutherford from New York in the late 1890's, when she and her elder sister Charlotte, known as "Lotte" to family and friends, were not yet in their teens. In time Flossie and Lotte, a gifted pianist, became acquainted with another pair of local siblings: Edgar Williams, an architect, and his older brother "Bill", a physician and poet. Initially attracted to Lotte Herman, Bill began to court Flossie after her sister rejected him in favor of Edgar. The couple married on December 12, 1912, and within five years became the parents of two sons, William E. and Paul. A well-educated, sophisticated woman who "devoured" books, Flossie was among the staunchest defenders of her husband's often controversial poetry, and assisted him in his medical practice as well. Aware of his roving eye early on in their acquaintance, she took a philosophical attitude towards his relationships with other women, and the two remained together until she was widowed in 1963. Flossie lived on in their Rutherford home on Ridge Road, now a national landmark, until her own death 13 years later at the age of 86.
The wife of celebrated poet William Carlos Williams and an integral part of his work as both physician and man of letters, "Flossie" Williams was the inspiration for "Asphodel, That Greeny Flower", a poem written when the couple were in their maturity. A long time resident of Rutherford, NJ, she was the second of two children, both girls, born to Paul and Nanny (nee Malmfred) Herman, an affluent couple of German and Norwegian origins. The Hermans moved to Rutherford from New York in the late 1890's, when she and her elder sister Charlotte, known as "Lotte" to family and friends, were not yet in their teens. In time Flossie and Lotte, a gifted pianist, became acquainted with another pair of local siblings: Edgar Williams, an architect, and his older brother "Bill", a physician and poet. Initially attracted to Lotte Herman, Bill began to court Flossie after her sister rejected him in favor of Edgar. The couple married on December 12, 1912, and within five years became the parents of two sons, William E. and Paul. A well-educated, sophisticated woman who "devoured" books, Flossie was among the staunchest defenders of her husband's often controversial poetry, and assisted him in his medical practice as well. Aware of his roving eye early on in their acquaintance, she took a philosophical attitude towards his relationships with other women, and the two remained together until she was widowed in 1963. Flossie lived on in their Rutherford home on Ridge Road, now a national landmark, until her own death 13 years later at the age of 86.
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