Lorrie Streifel

Lorrie Streifel, an empath entrancer and playful romancer of life, passed away the morning of August 2, 2025, at the age of 77. As a therapist or friend, she could deeply empathize and synchronize with whatever mood or viewpoint you were in, which would dramatically lower your defenses, and then imperceptibly nudge you in what she thought was a constructive direction. She was also a delightful hoot when being a silly, or biting, jokester. These qualities made her a leader in the intriguing, international InterPlay movement which will be somewhat explained later.

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1948, Lorrie soon moved with her family to Jacksonville, Florida where she became a high-school cheerleader. She grew up buck wild but highly educated. Her sister Lynn died when Lorrie was 17, thus perhaps starting a lifelong interest in humane dying. For instance, though Lorrie didn’t know her, when popular Asheville poet and playwright Christine Lassiter was dying about twenty years ago, Lorrie became one of her principal caretakers. And she also aided the pastoral, merciful and free CCLD, the Center for Conscious Living and Dying—where she died—become even more of an amazing reality.

Lorrie went to the University of Florida from 1966-1970 where she got even wilder and better educated. In 1967 she traveled to San Francisco and joined over a hundred-thousand Baby Boomers in the “Summer of Love.” According to Wikipedia “it encompassed hippie culture, spiritual awakening, hallucinogenic drugs, anti-war sentiment, and free love.” After college she earned a Master of Social Work degree from UNC-Chapel Hill. She had a long and successful career as a counselor, both at Blue Ridge Mental Health and privately. Her coworkers called Lorrie the DBT Queen because she helped so many clients thrive with Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Working with hundreds of poverty patients imbued Lorrie with a passion to transform an economic system that she saw as viciously abusing such vulnerable people.

Partly as a consequence Lorrie was an enthusiastic participant in the vibrant Green Party that formed in Asheville in the late 1980s. She also assisted in editing the resulting newspaper, the Green Line, which is now the Mountain Xpress. After the Xpress hired professional editors, Lorrie still edited over a hundred articles, op-eds and letters for the Xpress written by her friends, and she was the model for the main woman character in the sci fi history book, Billy Graham’s Glorious Jam. It was the 13th best-seller at Malaprop's bookstore in 1993.

In 1991 she was leader in the formation of Operation Safe Return. It organized to generate WNC resistance to the first US invasion of Iraq. After about six well-attended teach-ins and demonstrations, the group discovered how fruitless those efforts were, at least in that war, but such failures never dulled Lorrie’s spirit of defiance. It was a rare Asheville protest for racial, sexual or economic justice—or for peace—that she didn’t join or lead, and she was appalled by the wars of Biden and Trump. She had a sign on the road in front of her huge, elegant tree shrubbery that said, “Sanctuary Everywhere!” She gave generously to many charities including the Sangha Project which supports African villages in the Central African Republic.

In between these efforts, Lorrie sang in Womansong and other choirs or added flourishes to one of the most sumptuous gardens in Asheville, the one with which she surrounded her comfortable home in Kenilworth. That home was often more of a free B&B than a private residence, as companions from all over the world would stay there for extended periods.

Lorrie supported Cheri Huber in her Zen Buddhist ministry and Byron Katie in her thought-distancing practices, repeatedly going to their retreats. However, she embraced all types of spiritualities and religions and was incredibly agile at navigating through spiritual boundaries that usually become barriers to others. She also attended a weekly therapist’s support group, a weekly spiritual study circle, was a persistent yoga stretcher, and practiced many types of orthodox and unorthodox exercises, massages and energy work.

Lorrie was an avid explorer of alternative medicine, and she had several deep, long-term romantic relationships with three unconventional MDs. She acquired additional emotional sustenance from frequent visits with her nurturing, stimulating and talented biological family. Surviving family members are her sister Cindy Thompson, and husband Chuck; her nephew Scott Shannon, wife Darlene and child Gabby; her niece Jenny Thompson, her fiancé Courtney Wade; and niece Megan Vannoy, her husband Alex and their children, Harrison and Elaina.

As noted, Lorrie would often lead participants in the enigmatic world of InterPlay. According to their website, “If you’re convinced that seriousness is the path to inner wisdom, then you might want to look elsewhere. If you would like to become a 'recovering serious person' however, then InterPlay might be for you.” An essence of InterPlay is spontaneously building connections through story, sound and movement. Lorrie was a natural InterPlayer. She supported Meg MacLeod in helping InterPlay begin in Asheville. It continued to thrive through their joint leadership and mentoring of leaders. InterPlaying friends became an extended family.

Lorrie was a vegetarian food goddess, a recycling diva, a spirit-collaging princess, and a book-clubbing, voracious reader. How widely she spread her sparkling light was dramatized during the last eight weeks of her life. She’d had a series of small strokes for a year, and by then was experiencing a language aphasia that made it hard to communicate normally. This caused her conversation to be even more entertaining since she had to speak metaphorically, almost musically, to describe something that would otherwise require one word. Her house and hospital rooms became a nonstop, discreet party and a muted music venue as people from all over the country rushed to see her. Thanks so much to the many heroic, dedicated and skillful employees and volunteers at Mission Hospital, Care Partners and CCLD who helped make her last year often quite happy, and when not, almost as painless as possible.

Her beloved Zadie, her brindle hound dog, stoically watched, effusively wagged or hauntingly crooned through it all. Scores of Lorrie’s Kenilworth neighbors knew Zadie from her twice-daily walks with Lorrie, and from Lorrie holding community-building Kenilworth Residence Association meetings at her house.

In fact, Lorrie made everyone that she exuberantly welcomed into her immense community happier, most of the blessed time. Hopefully we will stick somewhat together, tied by the luminescent bonds of Lorrie’s amazing radiance, and work, create and InterPlay to finish the goals she tried so hard and so whimsically to accomplish. Luckily, we’ll have her exquisite blueprint to follow in building this possible peace on Earth, and in creating a bountiful sharing that’s so caring it affirms that all nature and humanity are one vast synergistic, harmonious and glorious family.

If anyone has anything they’d like to add to this obit, please write a letter to the Xpress editor or to the email below.

Lorrie’s Celebration of Life Service will be on August 24 from 1 to 6. If you’re interested in attending, email [email protected] for directions. In lieu of flowers please make donations to CCLD.