As many of you know, a founder of Community Free Democrats and the Park
West Village Tenants Association (along with Jerry Nadler), and a feminist
who had the political eye of a mother hawk, and the stamina and heart
of a dancer, passed away Tuesday night. Our club honored her at our annual
gala in April. Our hearts go out to her sons Randy and Sean and to all
of those who knew her. It was an honor and a joy to know her.
Her wake will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 28, at Frank
E. Campbell Funeral Home, NW corner of 81st and Madison. Please spread the word.
It's almost frightening that we will have to carry on without her.
Maggi preferred to remain humbly behind the scenes, but those in the know
knew you had to get to Maggi, to talk it over with her, to find out who
to connect with to reach your political or governmental goals, or just
to vent and bellyache. An activist and leader who also knew the value
of patience, she was the quintessential calm repository of relationships
between grassroots community people and powerbrokers alike, here on the
Upper West Side and throughout Manhattan. A ballet dancer by training
with a remarkable understanding of people, she became a trusted aide to
Congresswoman Bella Abzug and later worked for four Borough Presidents
- Andrew Stein, C. Virginia Fields, Scott Stringer and Gale Brewer. She
also was a founder of Women's Political Caucus and the Bella Abzug
Leadership Institute (with Bella's daughter Liz). Maggi handled valuable
bits of inside information like an air traffic controller, guaranteeing
that each piece would be directed to the right runway and arrive safely
at its useful destination. She shared what she knew if you could be trusted
with it, and you could always trust her. So very many secrets have been
snuffed out with Maggi's passing.
Scott Stringer has said time and again, "Maggi didn't work for
me. I worked for Maggi." We know that Maggi worked for all of us,
and it worked.
