This week marks the 82nd birthday of my oldest friend in Arlington, Virginia, Maggie Kellogg, shown on her wedding day many years ago. She will not be happy that I’ve called her my “oldest friend.” So I’ll restate it. She is the first friend I made when I moved to Arlington in 1976 with a two-year-old and not a single pal.
One mild September day, I loaded my little girl in a stroller and began a one-block-square march from my home. During the last lap, I spied a stroller in a front yard and knocked on the door, asking, “Are there kids in this house?” Turns out there were two, a boy named Stevie and a girl named Catherine, who became my daughter’s fast friend. And it gets better. During our first conversation, we realized I had taught for five years in the same Champaign, Illinois, high school as Maggie’s mother-in-law.
Our neighborhood began attracting more young moms, and we socialized while our kids played. A favored tradition was the Snow Day Luncheons, hosted in each other’s homes. Once school was cancelled, we were on the phone, planning who would host and what we’d bring. Rumor has it that considerable wine was consumed. But it’s just a rumor, after all. As our neighbors have moved away, Maggie and I continue to keep in touch, with birthday lunches and other impromptu get-togethers. While doing this, I’ve learned a lot about her.
Turns out Maggie has quite an interesting professional past. She headed a Congressional Hot Line at the Library of Congress, beginning in 1969. She and two other staffers fielded last-minute questions from Congresspeople, often under a time crunch and WITHOUT COMPUTERS. The Washington Daily News wrote an article about Maggie and her staff in its July 12, 1971, edition which was entered into the Congressional Record the next day by Congressman William Springer of Illinois.
I love Maggie’s favorite story about her years at the library. She returned from an errand one day to find Carl Bernstein sitting in her chair, making himself comfortable at her desk. An unpleasant exchange ensued, and Maggie threatened to call the guards to have him removed.
This incident made it into the book he wrote with Bob Woodward about Watergate, called All the President’s Men, and into the movie version, with the librarian cast as a man. After seeing the movie, Maggie’s husband asked her what she thought of the librarian’s casting. Never slow with a quip, Maggie said, “I was hoping for Elizabeth Taylor.”
We Old Schoolers love a quick comeback.
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