She owned and operated a handicraft shop in Nyack, Rockland County, New York in her retirement.
She was raised in Columbia, South Carolina and New York City.
She was a successful folk musician and a soprano singer. She played the zither, a harp, and a lute from the late forties until 1971. She sang old Irish, English, Appalachian ballads, and accompanied herself on the zither or the Irish harp.
Mother of son, Reed Karen, with actor, James Karen. She has two grandchildren.
Daughter of film director Daniel Reed and theatre publicist
Isadora Reed. Her family was friends with Carl Sandburg.
After she was blacklisted as a Communist sympathizer during the 1950s Red Scare she opened an antique shop on Greenwich Avenue near West 12th Street in New York City.
Her first album, "Scarlet Ribbons", was recorded in Texas by producer Norman Petty. Buddy Holly took photos during the recording session and his fellow Cricket Jerry Allison accompanied her on various songs. The record was released in 1957 on Coral Records, a subsidiary of Decca Records.