[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 13 (Wednesday, January 31, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E82-E83]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO MERYL GORDON

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. KAREN McCARTHY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 31, 2001

  Ms. McCARTHY of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I wish today to honor a 
special American who will be honored this Saturday, February 3 in New 
York City. Every generation has its rites of passage, and for those of 
us born in the years when Harry Truman brought honor and integrity to 
the White House, the occasion with which we boomers have recently 
become most familiar is the celebration of one's 50th birthday. It is 
in that spirit that I mark the arrival of my dear friend, Meryl Gordon, 
at that half-century mark today, January 31, 2001.
  Our fellowship began in Japan back in the days when there was another 
President Bush in the White House and, over the past decade, we have 
shared both literal typhoons (19 including Fukuoka, Japan, 1991) and 
the successes and occasional storms of everyday life.
  Some of those who still fit the chronological categories of ``twenty-
somethings'' or even ``thirty-somethings'' might not understand that a 
50th birthday is a particularly joyous occasion. This milestone serves 
as an apt moment

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to take stock of one's life, for it is a time when you have the health, 
the energy and the idealism to still achieve your fondest dreams. For 
someone like Meryl--a highly respected magazine writer who is a 
Contributing Editor of ``New York'' magazine and lives in that 
legendary metropolis--a 50th birthday is a wonderful vantage point from 
which to realize that she has been blessed with professional renown. 
Her essays and articles touch the heart, the funny bone, and the 
conscience of our nation. She is also fortunate to have a joyful 
marriage to esteemed writer, pundit, and comic Walter Shapiro; doting 
parents, Adelle and David Gordon of Rochester, N.Y. and a large and 
nurturing circle of friends who have come from far and wide to salute 
her tonight.
  Mr. Speaker, please join me in congratulating Meryl Gordon on this 
milestone and wish her continued success and happiness in her next half 
century.

                          ____________________