Ed Markey’s wife: the lovely, accomplished, and haimische Susan Blumenthal By Susie Davidson Senator-elect Ed Markey’s wife carries an impressive resume by any measure, but over the recent special election campaign for U.S. Senator, she was a formidable advocate for her husband. A former U.S. Assistant Surgeon General and a Rear Admiral, Susan Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.A. opened a recent campaign stop at Lyndell’s Bakery in Cambridge with warm remarks about his strong work ethic and achievements in equitable health care, gun control, the environment, helping the disadvantaged, technology and other areas. She was there with famed musician and songwriter Carole King, who made a string of appearances last month on behalf of the Senate candidate. Blumenthal spoke highly of her husband, even praising Markey’s sense of humor. “He cares for people,” she said. “He remembers everything about you, which so impresses me. He remembers where you went to school, who your brothers are,” she said. The couple celebrated their 25th anniversary the day after the election. At the Markey home in Malden the next day, Blumenthal, a women’s health care advocate who helped increase federal funding for breast cancer research, told Shalom that she was a native of Palo Alto and a past president of Hadassah in California, and was very proud of the honorary Doctorate of Science that she received in 2005 from Ben Gurion University. (Blumenthal was also named Jewish Heroine of America from the Florida Atlantic University Libraries in 2008. and received the Woman of Valor Award from the United Jewish Appeal in 1999. She was a Women’s Studies professor at Brandeis, which in 2005 presented her with the Abram L. Sachar Silver Medallion for outstanding contributions to education at its National Women’s Committee Conference.) “And Ed has always strongly supported the Jewish people,” she said. “When Israel destroyed the Iraqi nuclear facility at Osirek, they were condemned by many countries, and Ed went right there and defended Israel.”
Carole King and Susan Blumenthal
The next week at the house, Blumenthal remained gracious and personable, taking time from a hectic day of campaigning with her husband to inquire where Shalom had just come from (a Psychedelic Furs concert) and smiling genuinely when told that it was conceivable that she might have accompanied us. But here’s what Shalom especially admired about Blumenthal. On Friday, June 21, she appeared on FOX News as part of a feature on the Markeys and their home and Malden neighborhood. When asked by reporter Maria Stephanos if they had celebrated Christmases there, Blumenthal said, “Yes, and we’ve had Chanukahs here, too.”
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Shalom Magazine - www.ShalomMA.com
Summer
2013