Not long after we went to hear Melinda Gates when she spoke at in Dallas for Arts and Letters live Mary and I had one of our long and interesting conversations about the importance of Melinda’s visit and her book tour for young women. We bemoaned the fact that we had done almost everything we had known to do short of becoming real activists to foster the independence and enlightened thinking of the women in our circles and wondered how in the world we had gotten to this place in 2019 where so much seemed to be retreating to the 60’s norms and standards. Her intelligence, her understanding of the politics of power, her genuine interest in people but especially young women are just a few of the reasons I was drawn to Mary and came to love her.
We must have touched on hundreds of philosophical and psychological topics as we walked together every morning for years. She would come to my house one day and I would go to hers the next to walk at 6:00 am. We became very close over the many miles we walked and I probably told her all my secrets. She listened non-judgmentally and I never felt criticized by her. Don’t get me wrong. Mary was never shy about sharing her opinions and she had lots of opinions.
I admired her for her intellect, her strength and forcefulness, her Southern hospitality, the warmth of her home, her business acumen, her math and computer skills and her manicure. I loved that I could talk to her about books and authors I loved, about women’s rights, or about recipes. She always knew something about every topic. She drew one in and included people and I admired that about her and loved that in her. She was the friend you were always glad you had and I will miss her.
—Dr. Susan Gwaltney