"Great interview.". The personal which she got to in part through the professional is that she is the mother of 11 children. Marjorie Margolies knew she wanted to be a mom, but wasn't sure if she would get married, so she adopted a pretty revolutionary idea in the 1970s. Margoliess original campaign staffa precocious group that included Amy Walter, now a journalist with the Cook Political Report, and Kenny Baer, who would work in both the Clinton and Obama administrationsalso blurred the line between her private life and her public life. When Democrat Mezvinsky was defeated for reelection the next year, the family moved to the Philadelphia suburbs, where Margolies and Mezvinsky had two children of their own -- Marc, now 14, and Andrew -- and Margolies commuted to Washington for 12 years to work part time for WRC. She was frustrated by the budget cutbacks in the TV news industry, but not looking to take a leap. At 6:30 p.m. on Halloween night, Marjorie Margoliess black SUV pulls up to a handsome colonial in the Philadelphia suburbs where a campaign fundraiser is being held in her honor. Then I married. The presence of the Clintons may just amplify inevitable charges of carpetbaggery from Boyle and her other opponents. When I float the possibility that some of her donors dont know their district has moved, Margolies belts out a deep-throated laugh and says, Thank God!. Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky, former United States Representative from Pennsylvania, political organization worker. When he called and said, What would it take? she tells her well-heeled donors, I did not say, Your first-born., Marjorie Margolies in 2009. I realized the challenges. Holly was 5 at the time. Two, her now-ex husband went to jail for running a Ponzi scheme. Margolies led the U.S. delegation; then [] Her career ended for a second time in 2000. In the car on the way to the Albright event, I ask how involved the Clintons are in her campaign. Her assignment as a CBS correspondent soon opened a door she never imagined. Her decision to run puts the Clintons in a difficult spot. "(She) stuck out her hand (and) said, 'How do you do,' and that was the only thing she knew how to say," Margolies told TODAYs Hoda Kotb on Tuesday. Now, on weekends, she and her brood don bright red T-shirts emblazoned "MMM for Congress" -- the shirt flaps around Andrew's knees, but is a clean fit on Holly -- pile into a van and campaign across the affluent Main Line and middle-class outer suburbs of Philadelphia where Mezvinsky is running against Republican Montgomery County Commissioner Jon D. Fox in the heavily Republican district of retiring Rep. Lawrence Coughlin. There is no playing favorites with the couple's natural children, says Margolies, stressing that, after all, Lee Heh and Holly were there before her own came along. "So we had six girls and we got married and then we had two boys. And I met this little girl who shook my hand and said 'how do you do'.'. Someone asks if I can do something, and I usually figure out a way to do it, so I usually say yes. She was just so easy, her mother said. ', She didn't care what society thought: 'It was really immaterial. In 1992, she ran for Congress, and won, serving for two years as a congresswoman from Pennsylvania. I felt the budget cuts didnt go far enough, she wrote in her 1994 book A Womans Place: The Freshmen Women Who Changed the Face of Congress. When she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2013, he said, his wife began, at last, to open those jars. "Can you talk to me about how I was as a little girl?" The implication of this, Fenton tells me, is that nothing is as important as what she needed personally, politically, and therefore she would have no problem conscience-wise to sign onto this lawsuit. It turned out a solid portion of the familys moneythey owned a 15-room mansion in Narberth, Pa.belonged to other people. She said, I think that she has unfinished business. (Tonight, were all on a first-name basis with the Clintons.) "Were there any redeeming qualities? Please enter valid email address to continue. And that she would be. I have been living Sunday, April 30, Brunch 9:45 a.m.;10:30 program, Art, grief, and living with and through tragedy, Israeli-born pianist, about to play at NJPAC, praises his teachers and mentors, Reflections on the root and meaning of spinal pain, Livingston shul to hear NCJWs national president outline the progress and challenges, Mom and Dad never felt insecure about Social Security. She was 48 and the mother of two boys whom she cherished, Jude and Trent Werth. Marjorie Margolies, 79, was a reporter for WCAU in Philadelphia. Margoliess decision to run undoubtedly puts the Clintons, eyeing a race of their own, in a tough spot, writes van Zuylen-Wood. I dont know, Margolies says, when I put it to her, over hors doeuvres at a restaurant before the Albright fundraiser. Alas, Holly passed away mid-May 2016 following a three-year battle with cervical cancer. I dont know if theres a lot of giveback.. And I told him, Your first born.. IE 11 is not supported. I love this!. | AP Photo. Holly Thi Werth (Margolies) passed away on May 3, 2016, in her home in Boise with her family at her bedside. California residents do not sell my data request. Surrounded by family members she was meeting for the first time, Holly, a bit nervous, turned to humor. Whatever decisions that were made in the marriage, their life, political life, social lifeMarjorie was the head guy, she says. Margolies told TODAY. She is passing the torch to the new Co-Chairs Risha Walden and Sunanda Sharma, featured here at their on-boarding lunch meeting. "Then I decided that all these years I'd been saying to my kids: 'You've got to be prepared to lose before you can win. Ms. Margolies runs with her two young daughters. Marjorie Margoliess son married Chelsea Clinton. "I started to do a series on Korean orphans adopted in this area," she said. Fenton and his wife were close family friends who often watched over Margoliess son Andrew when she and Ed were away. The bride, formerly on the NBC News staff here, is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Margolies of Phila. Achievements include supporting refugee children and families. In June 2012, Margolies rented a house in Ventnor, at the Jersey Shore, for her 70th birthday. ", "She's definitely not the '50s mom who does the laundry and who's baking cookies when we get home," said Lee Heh Margolies. Local author finds out; along the way he learnshow to network, write, and publish a book, Barnert Temple rededicates Centerville Cemetery, Synagogue in Franklin Lakes restores its old burial ground in Clifton, Real estate magnate Joseph Barry sponsors concert celebrating Israel at 75, Josh Gottheimer talks about his trip to Israel with Hakeem Jeffries. A memorial service will be Sunday, June 5, in the Amado Recital Hall in the Irvine Auditorium at 3401 Spruce St. on the University of Pennsylvania campus. Edition of Quad-City Times. Margolies became the first unmarried U.S. citizen to adopt a foreign child. Lee Margolies was born on 03/05/1964 and is 58 years old. Even for a campaign fundraiser taking place a half-year ahead of a primary, there is surprisingly little talk of the election itself. Not that living in Washington three nights a week stopped her from breast-feeding the two boys. I think people like resilience. Why is the Chinese dragon laying eggs in different baskets? (The two divorced in 2007; Ed was released from prison a year later.) ". And she was very, very funny. But sometimes its just literally true. She went from journalism to politics; for one fraught session of Congress, Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky, as she was then, won an open seat in Pennsylvanias 13th Congressional District in 1992. How is it possible that I forgot to wish my house a happy birthday? That night of the vote, Clinton called me. That parts true. Welcome to a day in the life of the Marjorie Margolies Mezvinsky for Congress campaign, where getting elected is hardly the candidate's only worry. "Holly was impossible," Margolies shared. "As a Homo sapiens without an X and a Y chromosome, I was not represented. Its unclear who decided to keep the black sheep out of view, but its probably safe to assume the Clintons werent altogether displeased. In 1975, she married Congressman Ed Mezvinsky, who had four daughters of his own. Two years out of prison and still on probation, Ed Mezvinsky did indeed attend, but according to several of Margoliess friends, he did not walk down the aisle with Marc and Marjorie, per Jewish custom. She gave toasts that prompted acquaintances to ask whether she was a stand-up comedian. Doug Werth said Holly didn't talk much about her childhood in Saigon. As Cuomo announced hed fight Jew-hatred, the Jews decided to attack him ratherthan the antisemites. Margolies married Ed Mezvinsky in 1975, and four years later they took in a Vietnamese boat family which includes Suu, her son Vu, 10, and Suu's two nephews, Hai, 23, and Dang, 21. Twenty-five years. Lee Heh, now 21, was hers, but Margolies didn't stop there. The couple would go on to have two biological children. She was 6years old. In 1973, an adoption agency sent her a photo of the 6-year-old she would name Holly, staring into the camera with a slight smile, holding a placard with her name and birth date. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. MOUNTAIN AVE. MONTCLAIR, NJ Seller: KINARD, DAVID M. & ELIZABETH F. 221 NO. I gave birth to two boys. Her son, Mark, is married to their daughter, Chelsea. The suit didnt stick, and Mezvinsky eventually went to prison. Should a Holocaust documentary have a happy ending? The other day, Facebook reminded me that this new generation of humans will never know the joys of having two keys for your car. They say, How are the children?, What: Will talk about her new book, among other things. She had lost her bid for lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania in 1998 and was in the midst of a run for Rick Santorums Senate seat when her husband, Edward Mezvinksy, a former congressman who represented Iowa in the 1970s, declared bankruptcy. "Can you get together a wedding in a couple of weeks?" And then we were asked to take this refugee family," Margolies said. She made jokes that had half the room gasping in shock, the other half gasping with laughter. She grew up with stability and normality and she woke up and said, 'I want more.' We thank our board members for their support. My checks have been in the mail (electronically) for 17 years, but what about my stepsons and grandkids? But really it shows the similarity of human connection around the world. the mom of 11 kids shares how she became the first single woman in the U.S. believed to have adopted internationally. Ms. Margolies got married thats where the Mezvinsky came from, as well as many more children. She quit working to spend more time with her sons. More than 30 years after she was married, Ms. Margolies went through a painful divorce; her ex-husband, also a former member of Congress, was convicted of fraud. In exchange for her vote on the budget bill, President Clinton agreed to attend a conference on entitlement reform in her district. "If I'm elected, it'll be because I'm different and people want me to be different for them," said Mezvinsky. A household of 15 kept things interesting. "People willsay, 'Time will heal.' In interviews with me and other publications, shell insist that her candidacy is not premised on her relationship with the Clintons. She then adopted a half-American, half-Vietnamese child, Holly, now 18. The theme of this years fundraiser was the next generation of female leaders. the mom of 11 kids shares how she became the first single woman in the U.S. believed to have adopted internationally. Three years later, Margolies drew on that experience to found Womens Campaign International, a globe-trotting nonprofit she still leads today. When I ask the native Northeast Philadelphian Boyle what differentiates him from his opponents, Margolies in particular, he says hes the only candidate who isnt a millionaire or married to one. Put another way: Hes a first-generation Irish-American who grew up in a row house in Northeast Philly; she once sued US Airways after a bag fell on her head. A half-dead economy, the confirmation hearings of Justice Clarence Thomas and an insurgent electorate across the country have launched hundreds of candidacies that otherwise never would have been contemplated this year. Her greatest feat of Rolodex-padding, though, might have been losing her re-election in 1994. Whats it like being the son ofa major league baseball player? She was a pickpocket, she smoked. Marjorie is the most amazing connector of and developer of contacts, says one friend. "The magical is a little bit of an exaggeration.". Serving as guardians for this massive brood can be a costly endeavor, she admits,but cares little about the expense. Currently, Lee is single. Lee Heh Margolies, Age 59 aka Elleheh Margolies, Lee Hem Margolies, Margolies Lee, L Margolies Current Address: NNME Erwin Park, Montclair, NJ Past Addresses: New York NY, Montclair NJ +5 more Phone Number: (973) 632- BYJX +9 phones Email Address: See available information UNLOCK PROFILE Phone & Email (10) All Addresses (8) Family (5) Social Court She tried to get up and leave with them sometimes, even toward the end. Toni Goldberg defends Margolies as a career woman who was too busy to pay heed to her husbands schemes, but she says the judges indictment made sense to many at the time. "She was always doing three things at once. Margolies was then a television reporter for NBC Philadelphia, and, a few years earlier, had become the first single American woman to adopt a foreign child: Lee Heh, from South Korea. What devastated Fenton, however, was not the outcome of the trial, but the fact that Margolies, who maintained that she was oblivious about her husbands dealings, signed onto the lawsuit as well. "And a lot of those feelings she put in jars, figuratively speaking, and left them there.". ), This story is an absolute lie, she said, but she tells it with glee. First Lady Hillary Clinton chaired the American delegation, and Marjorie Margolies was named. But Mezvinsky hopes the desire to reject career politicians is more powerful than that, and she has won the endorsements of all three major daily newspapers in the district. Her assignment as a CBS correspondent soon opened a door she never imagined. "She would see something she wanted in a restaurant window, and lie down in front of the door until we went in," Margolies said. I was a delegate to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, in 1992. "Going on vacation when we were young, we would always want to sit next to Holly - we would fight over who got to share her room," her brother Vu Pham said, laughing. A couple times a week, the entire family sits down to dinner as one, large group, but for the most part meals are served in two sittings. What could she say? one political operative told Philadelphiamagazine in 2002. I had no idea what was going on in my own household, but Im equipped to vote on a $2 trillion budget! "Holly was our favorite patient," the nurse told Margolies. Danger lurks when a nations military deterrence fades. When: On Thursday, January 19, at 11 a.m. Where: Online, for the JCC U at the Kaplen She gave toasts that prompted acquaintances to ask whether she was a stand-up comedian. 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Theres a sense of entitlement, says one politico who used to work with her. She loved being a journalist and to be fair, it loved her back. She has not attempted to hide her liberal Democratic leanings in a 2-1 Republican district. 'I think I was the first single woman in the United States to adopt a. 2 people found this helpful Helpful The reason thats funny is that one of her sons, Marc Mezvinsky, is married to Bill and Hillary Clintons only child, Chelsea Clinton. Holly changed professions frequently - writing for television, radio production, office management for an architectural firm, and once, writing letters to irate guests at an Arizona luxury ranch, the latter job a vessel for her scathing wit. Its a very Jewish question. 'Everybody takes turns cooking,' says Margolies. Holly, a half-Vietnamese, half-American child, was a street child. Its so nice to see someone who is willing to stand up for what she believes in.. Marjorie Margolies had an incredible career but dreamed of starting a family. ', Margolies, who had done a TV series on hard to place adoptive children, asked WCAU-TV if she could do a story in Korea, 'because there were lots of kids who were coming from there.'. Holly grew up, went to the University of Pennsylvania, got married, had two children, and had a happy life, but she died of cancer four years ago. the mom of 11 kids shares how she became the first single woman in the U.S. believed to have adopted internationally. My dad was tikkun-ish, she said. She was upfront with her bosses on her dual motive: 'I wasn't kidding anybody. Life lessons from an Israeli cab driver. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. I finally found a group in Oregon that didn't say yes, but they didn't say no. Dale Russakoff is the author of "The Prize," published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Leah has 4 jobs listed on their profile. It all began when Marjorie Margolies got a reporting assignment in Korea. When Albright and Margolies stop posing for pictures with donors, Margolies, now 71, and impeccable in pearls and an elegant floral jacket, takes the mic and explains why shes running. She made you feel incredibly lazy. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. He always said, If you can change someones life in a positive way, then do it., The title of her book, And How Are the Children? sounds Jewish. She was a street child. Their relationship, he insists, is far more important in Marjories life than whether she wins or loses this race.. Snares Daley NEW YORK - Lee Heh Margolies, 11-year-old stepdaughter of Rep. Ed Mezvinsky, D-Iowa, Is an accredite. And over the summer, she threw a huge wedding with 14 bridesmaids for daughter Lee Heh Margolies, 28. She spent a long time looking into adoption in Korea; literally, as I was ready to leave, they said, We have picked a little girl for you. That little girl, 7-year-old Lee Heh, became Ms. Margolies first child; Ms. Margolies is said to have been the first single American woman to adopt a child internationally. In 1970, Margolies was a TV reporter when an assignment took her to Korea for. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and did graduate work at Columbia. "They picked Holly, who was 6. She had been the first single woman in U.S. history to adopt a kid from a foreign country: Lee Heh, a South Korean girl, who eventually became one of 11 children Margolies would consider her. She was working as an occasional correspondent for four NBC programs, including "Today." "I was going to reconcile that and understand that thats what made me a better mother.". Last night I came back to the house after being away on a story, and my 18-year-old started to yell, 'Mommy's home', and the younger ones followed suit and then the 3-year-old started shouting, as they all ran down the stairs. She met babysitters who told stories of her cajoling candy from American GIs, and family members who remembered hiding under the bed with an infant Holly as bombs fell on a nearby Army base in Nha Trang. But when Hillary took the stage to praise a woman running for elected office in Pennsylvania, it was gubernatorial candidate Allyson Schwartz, the congresswoman Margolies is vying to replace. In this vein, the harshest indictment of Marjorie I hear comes from Mezvinskys former doctor Brad Fenton. ", To which Mezvinsky responds with practiced umbrage: "It's about time men like Jon Fox stopped making me feel guilty about having worked and been a mother at the same time. And shes so successful. Instead, she said, she voted for the budget because she thought that although it had many problems, it still absolutely had to pass. ("I hate fund-raising calls," she silently mouths to a visitor as an aide hands her a telephone.). The youngest children flocked to Holly. But the fundraisers VIP cachet is representative less of Margoliess political potency than of her connections. 'I've gotten so much more out of this than the children have. 'I think I was the first single woman in the United States to adopt a child,' says Margolies, 43, who has made the same claim during interviews on national TV and has never gotten a dispute. I say, without being flip, 'I forget,' because they are all ours. "Eat, eat, eat!". She is a slip of a woman with a short wedge of black hair -- a contrast to the waist-length tresses that were her trademark on television in the 1970s -- who alternates between Albert Nipon suits and dungarees on the campaign trail. Her house burned down over the summer and is not yet rebuilt. Margolies is 20 years out of office, 10 years removed from a scandal that was supposed to have ended her career and running once again for the House of Representatives, this time in a contested four-way Democratic primary. "I'm trying to raise two children, and {pay for} school and clothes. Margulies was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, but was raised in Norwalk, Connecticut. But eventually she decided, as she had children of her own - Trent, 10, and Jude, 12 - that she wanted to meet her birth family. 'Mothering has nothing to do with biologically giving birth. Northern New Jerseys Jewish Voice Since 1931, Get The Jewish Standard Newsletter by email and never miss our top stories, www.jccotp.org/ programs/lectures-learning, Israel Story looks at the countrys founding document in Teaneck program. Marc was not in favor of Marjorie running, she tells me. In the late 1990s, a job with a software company took her to Idaho, where she met her husband, Doug Werth. Me. We just lost a lot of stuff.' I signed his ketubah. 'I had spent so many years just thinking about me and how I was going to get from Point A to Point B in my own career. Lee Heh came from Korea, and her adjustment was seamless. A couple hours before the vote, she had appeared live on Philadelphia television to explain her opposition to the bill. Werth died May 3 at her home in Boise, Idaho, at age 48. Kait Hanson is a lifestyle reporter for TODAY. Then, three years later in Vietnam, serendipity when Margolies ran into people from the same adoption agency. (The two officially started dating in 2005, though Goldberg says that they kept it undercover for many years before that. She is the former Marjorie Margolies, Emmy Award-winning correspondent for WRC-TV from 1975 until 1990, more recently of the "Today" show. Margolies said her late daughter "was amazing" and left an incredible legacy, including two children. Mezvinsky never asked Fenton to invest, and Fenton does not suspect Margolies was involved in his schemes. Its easy to describe what it feels like to have a conversation with her shes warm, charming, smart, honest, wide-ranging, open, and avowedly Luddite. 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