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NEWS & LETTERS, December 2001Margaret Littmann 1913-2001
We mourn the death and honor the memory of Margaret Littmann, who wrote for NEWS
& LETTERS under the pen name Maggie Soleil for two decades, and whose
generous support helped keep us alive. She reported on events and books about
the women of Hawaii, where she moved in 1974. There, she supported the Hawaiian
Sovereignty Movement, as well as continued her lifelong commitment to the
education of children.What Margaret found compelling about News and Letters Committees was the
Marxist-Humanist concept of revolution, telling me often that we had
"better hurry up with your idea of revolution and that new human world.
It's the only thing that will make a difference." When Marx's COMMUNIST
MANIFESTO celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1998 and Margaret was 84 years
old, she commented that it seemed to have been written yesterday, so well did it
describe our world. The rise of the Women's Liberation Movement transformed Margaret's thoughts
and activism. In Hawaii, the women's movement informed her life as she threw
herself into feminist activism. It's not only that she helped found the
YWCA-Kaua'i Women's Center in 1977, or that she served on the Kaua'i County
Committee on the Status of Women and in just about every position for the Kaua'i
League of Women Voters. But when she saw the need for a shelter for abused women
and their children she and her husband, Sidney, purchased and renovated the
building, and Margaret wrote the grant for its funding. In her last years, Margaret struggled with a multitude of physical limitations, including blindness and immobility. Despite these things, she kept up with the world. When in Detroit, Margaret was able to transform a school and make it a more humane place for children. In Hawaii she transformed an entire island, making it a safer place for women and children. Her support of News and Letters Committees revealed her desire to transform the world. Now she has left that task to us. Terry Moon |
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