Fifty Years with Meher Baba "The First Fifty are Always the Hardest" by Marguerite Poley as told to Nancy Merwan
Above: The Dhuni at Meherana Sahavas.
Below: That Mischievous Chicken and "Baba. " John Mathew Echeveste
Marguerite Poley on Meher Baba's right.
M
arguerite's life has been incredibly fascinating, in many instances unbelievably tragic, or as she would describe it, "never a dull moment." I would love to have seen her stunt riding in the circus. She says that "outside of being with Baba... the happiest time in my life was being with horses." She is a gifted artist, a born teacher, and has spent close to forty years of her life working with animals. Marguerite was born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1909. She was an only child. When she was two, her family moved to beautiful Montreaux, which is near Lausanne. Marguerite enjoyed a happy, idyllic early childhood as daddy's little girl. Her father loved horses and inspired her own love for horses. After the sudden death of her father when she was ¡nine, Marguerite's life changed significantly. She became "...quite an unruly child and my mother decided to send me to a convent boarding school in Germany... it was a very, very strict school, but the Franciscan nuns were so
wonderful that I dearly loved them ..•" Marguerite finished school at sixteen. She and her mother (on the recommendation of two friends) -were admitted to the United States in May of 1925. Her frrst summer in America was spent working on a farm in Ohio. In the fall, she and her mother moved to Cleveland where she engaged in several occupational endeavors, "I wasn't entirely happy because I wanted to have more to do with animals and horses..." At a horse show she met Adele Parker, a well known lady in equestrian circles, who took on Marguerite as a protege. Marguerite became a stunt rider at state fairs and also a circus performer, touring throughout the U.S. and Canada. She was written up in the Billboard publication many times. 1935 she was on tour in Canada where it had rained heavily. She was (continued next page.)