May 30, 2008

We received some sad news last weekend. Our dear friend and essay editor, Marguerite McGlinn passed away, much too young.
 
I first met Marguerite back in my early days at the Rittenhouse Writers Group. Marguerite possessed a certain subtle intensity that comes from being very smart and very determined, and she shared that intensity with the group. If anyone ever had a question regarding Shakespeare or the Classics, Marguerite was the resident expert.
 
When Christine and I decided to start Philadelphia Stories, Marguerite was one of the first people we invited on to our fiction board. Although she was an accomplished travel writer and grammar editor (she edited the Trivium for Paul Dry Books), we knew her real passion was fiction. She served in that capacity until we needed an essay editor. We turned to Marguerite who we felt was the perfect choice. She knew that we wanted essays that read like stories; essays that spoke to some kind of emotional truth and that were not just glorified journal entries or a litany of someone's daily activities. She believed in the quality of Philadelphia Stories, and we trusted her opinion implicitly.
 
Marguerite was also a good friend. When I was working on my MFA at Rosemont, I would stop by Marguerite's house for a quick pasta supper or a cup of tea. We talked often about writing, specifically, how tough it is to spend time marketing oneself, particularly if you're not naturally the kind of person who is comfortable extolling your own virtues. I think I can say that Marguerite was frustrated to a certain extent, like many of us. She could write--of that there is no question. But she did not receive the type of recognition she deserved. Publishers were mildly interested in her novels, telling her that they were well written, but ultimately there were no takers. This was a disappointment for her as it is for any of us in that situation.
 
I will miss her. We will all miss her. She had a lot left to accomplish and that makes me sad, mostly for Marguerite, but for all of us, really. As much as we want to leave our little piece of a cultural legacy behind, in the end it's the individuals that we connect with that really matter. Marguerite will long be remembered, not only as having been a wonderful teacher, writer, mother, wife and friend, but an extraordinary human being.
 
Read the complete story on the Philadelphia Stories Blog, and read Marguerite's story, The Sphinx, on our website.