It is with great sadness that we write to let you know that longtime Ithaca College friend and supporter Carol Serling passed away on Jan. 9, at the age of 91. The widow of the late Rod Serling, Carol had served for 18 years on the Ithaca College Board of Trustees and was named an honorary trustee in 2002. Survivors include daughters Jodi ’74 and Anne, grandsons Samuel Serling-Sutton ’11 and Ryan Rothstein-Serling ’12, and granddaughter Erica Serling Petersen.
Carol met Rod while both were attending Antioch College, from which she graduated in 1950 with a degree in psychology and education. She served in a variety of volunteer and civic roles for many years, and she was a passionate steward of Rod’s legacy following his passing in 1975 while he was serving as a visiting professor at the college.
She served as associate publisher and consulting editor of the Twilight Zone magazine, project consultant for 1983’s “Twilight Zone: The Movie,” supervising producer for the 1994 television film “Twilight Zone: Rod Serling’s Lost Classics” and executive producer of the current CBS All Access revival of the “Twilight Zone” series, hosted by Jordan Peele.
Carol began donating examples of her husband’s work to the college, with these generous gifts continuing over the years to help establish the Rod Serling Archives as the largest single collection of television scripts and screenplays by the extraordinary writer. The collection also includes his six Emmy Awards; original typed scripts for most episodes of the Twilight Zone series; unproduced scripts; and photos, films and books from Serling’s personal collection.
