[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 102 (Thursday, June 19, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1291]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF ANNE CLARK MARTINDELL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 19, 2008

  Mr. HOLT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Anne Clark 
Martindell, former American Ambassador to New Zealand and New Jersey 
State Senator, who died last week at the age of 93. Her lifetime of 
public service is worth honoring here, because she was not only an 
outstanding public servant, a generous benefactor of good causes, and a 
talented and gracious woman, but she proved that it's never too late to 
show your mettle, to be your best self and to use your ability and 
drive to make the world a better place.
  Born into a family of means in 1914, Anne Clark lived a comfortable 
and sheltered life. She attended private schools and entered Smith 
College in 1932. She took to higher education immediately and decided 
that she would go on to law school. When she told this to her father, 
who by the way was a prominent attorney who later became a Federal 
Judge, he demanded that she leave school, because ``no man would want 
to marry an educated woman''!
  Anne returned to Princeton, married George C. Scott, Jr. shortly 
thereafter and the couple had a daughter and two sons. This marriage 
ended in divorce and she later married Jackson Martindell, publisher of 
Who's Who. This marriage produced another son, Roger Martindell, who 
carries on the tradition of community service as a member of the 
Princeton Borough governing body, and is my friend and neighbor.
  The dormant seed of her desire to make a difference, to do more, to 
participate in the betterment of the community, came alive--was 
fertilized--by her strong opposition to the conditions surrounding our 
involvement in the Vietnam War. When Anne Martindell's brother, the 
journalist Blair Clark, become Eugene McCarthy's campaign manager in 
1968, she began to raise money for the campaign in New Jersey and was 
selected as a delegate to the tumultuous 1968 Democratic Convention in 
Chicago.
  Anne Martindell liked to say she never did anything real until she 
was in her 50's. She was 54 years of age when she began her political 
career. On her return home from the convention, where she had been 
recognized as one with the ability to clearly articulate her strong 
opinions and to fearlessly champion what was, at that convention an 
unpopular point of view, she was asked to serve as Vice Chair of the 
New Jersey Democratic State Committee.
  The (always) female Vice Chair of the party was considered at that 
time a mere figurehead, but that was not Anne Martindell's style. She 
is legendary for having arrived at a meeting of the male power brokers 
where she was told she wasn't welcome, because they used salty language 
that she wouldn't like. ``I don't give a blank (here insert your 
favorite 4 letter word) what kind of language you use'', she said, 
``I'm coming in.''
  Anne Martindell was asked to run for State Senate in 1973, in what 
had been traditionally a Republican district. She won the election, 
making her one of the first women to serve in New Jersey's upper house.
  It was a very different world when Anne Martindell went to the New 
Jersey legislature (an example of which was that women were so little 
thought of in the Legislature, that there still were only men's rooms 
in both Chambers and caucus rooms--the women legislators used the 
public facilities). Although fathers did not still think higher 
education would spoil their daughters' chances at marriage, there was 
still a lot to be done to support and increase women's participation in 
community life. She worked on primarily women's issues, education, and 
the environment. She served as Chair of the Education Committee and a 
member of the powerful Appropriations Committee. As Chair of the Budget 
Subcommittee for Higher Education, she sponsored a law to increase 
loans for higher education. She wanted to make it more available to 
those who didn't have the means, but had the desire and thirst for more 
learning. She understood that very well.
  She also continued to show her feisty side by introducing a 
resolution stating that it was the sense of the New Jersey Senate that 
enough evidence was available to institute impeachment of the President 
and that Congress ought to get on with it.
  She was a Carter delegate to the 1976 Democratic National Convention 
and campaigned vigorously for him in New Jersey. After his election, 
she left her Senate seat and became director of the Office of Foreign 
Disaster Assistance (OFDA), part of the State Department's Agency for 
International Development. In 1979 she was nominated for the 
ambassadorship to New Zealand and Western Samoa and served in that 
capacity until 1981.
  She was the first female ambassador to New Zealand and once again ran 
into some resistance, but her political instincts, coupled with grace 
and charm, endeared her to the people and she in turn treated them with 
respect and affection. It was in New Zealand that she met the man she 
called ``the love of my life''--the New Zealand painter Sir Tosswell 
Wollaston and they remained close until his death in 1998.
  Last year, at the age of 92, she returned to Auckland, New Zealand to 
attend a meeting of the Partnership Forum and was greeted with great 
warmth. The American Ambassador in New Zealand has hailed her this week 
as one whose legacy as Ambassador lives on in the hearts of the people.
  But then, Anne Martindell was always doing extraordinary things. And 
she didn't like to leave things undone. So it was no surprise to her 
friends when a decade ago she re-enrolled at Smith College, attended 
classes, studied with students who could have been her great-
grandchildren, and graduated in 2002 at the age of 87. In honor of her 
outstanding life and work, she got her undergraduate degree along with 
an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree. Poetic justice, don't you think?
  Annie Martindell is mourned by her family: daughter, Margery Luther 
of Ann Arbor Michigan, sons, George C. Scott III of Richmond, Virginia; 
David C. Scott of Princeton, and Roger Martindell, 9 grandchildren, 6 
great grandchildren and a brother, J. William Clark of Great Barrington 
Massachusetts. She is also mourned by her many friends in Princeton, 
and throughout New Jersey, and across the broad swath of lives she has 
touched.
  Anne Martindell was on a book signing tour for her new book--the 
appropriate title of which is Never Too Late--when she was stricken 
with her last illness. It breaks my heart to think she will never get a 
chance to autograph my copy. I will miss her phone calls with good 
advice, her strong opinions on current events, and her ease of 
friendship. Anne Clark Martindell has taught us all a valuable lesson 
about opportunities and readiness to recognize a call to action 
whenever it appears in our lives. And it is never too late to take that 
message to heart.

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