Tom's Life Bits

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It was very moving and meaningful to attend, yesterday, the
celebration of the life of Margaret Juntwait (1957-2015) at the
Juilliard School. The event had support and presence from
colleagues and friends Margaret had everywhere but, especially
at WNYC (New York Public Radio) and the Metropolitan Opera. Eric
Owens sang "Deep River" and Susan Graham sang "Ombra Mai Fu" and
"La Vie en Rose". Margaret's husband Jamie Katz and son Gregory
Andreacchi spoke beautifully, from the heart, noting that she
approached every situation--no matter how thorny--with love. Met
GM Peter Gelb spoke, noting her record-breaking 1844 broadcasts,
as did on-air colleagues Ira Siff and William Berger, both
evoking Margaret's special skills and warmth. Her WNYC
colleagues Jo Ann Allen and John Schaefer, gave wonderful
accounts of the pre-Met Margaret, who spread joy and lots of
humor around the station while also dazzling people with her
beautiful voice, prodigious gifts and a work ethic in which no
corners were ever cut. While I knew all of these speakers to
some degree (and some are very dear to me), I did not know Emma
Gordon, an Australian who is 20 years Margaret's junior. They
met and became very close in a cancer support group. Emma listed
four of the many lessons she learned from Margaret: 
  * "Be a friend
worth dying for"; 
  * "Make the ordinary extraordinary"; 
  * "Look for
the beauty in everything and everyone"; and 
  * "Don't waste time
being perfect."

These are full of truths and very Margaret and
not easy to make real in life. But Margaret Juntwait did.

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