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Remembering Margo Adair

Margo Adair, author of the groundbreaking book Working Inside Out: Tools for Change, died September 2, 2010 in Seattle, after struggling with pancreatic cancer since last November.

Margo’s work in politics, spirituality, and applied meditation touched the lives of thousands of people. For more than three decades, she was both a theoretical leader and a master practitioner, exploring the intersections of political change and personal transformation. Influenced by the women’s spirituality community and a lifelong commitment to social justice, Adair’s original thinking and imaginative insights produced key ideas in expanding our understanding of consciousness. She had a unique gift for translating complex ideas into practical strategies and actions for change.

Along with her writings on meditation and spirituality, she helped define the work of people of European descent in the uprooting of racism. She conducted countless workshops across the country on establishing productive, positive relationships across the differences that divide us. She co-authored with Shea Howell some of the earliest work in this area, The Subjective Side of Politics and Breaking Old Patterns, Weaving New Ties. Both works continue to influence the development of efforts across the country to address issues of race, class, and gender. She carried this commitment to heal the world throughout her last year, conducting anti-oppression trainings and participating in many volunteer initiatives for social and environmental justice.

Margo developed Applied Meditation–a contemplative practice that integrates intuition, visualization, and mindfulness and is used by therapists and healing practitioners around the world. Her three books,Working Inside Out, Meditations on Everything Under the Sun, and Practical Meditations for Busy Souls, explore the connections between consciousness, politics, and spirituality. She designed and recorded healing meditations for people with AIDS in the very first days of the epidemic, and in 2007 she and three partners created a CD entitled Self-Care for Hepatitis C: Applied Meditation for a Healthy Liver.

Her work grew out of a lifetime commitment to explore new ideas and find practical organizational forms to express them. In the 1970′s, Margo worked with a group to form the Marxist Spirituality Collective, one of the first efforts to bring these two areas together. She was a founding member of the San Francisco branch of the National Organization for An American Revolution.

Her political work spanned several organizational efforts, especially in the Bay Area, where she lived for much of her life. In the 1980s she participated in forming the Womanearth Project, was instrumental in the development of the Green Gatherings, and served on the editorial collective of Green Letter and Groundwork. She was a skillful conflict resolver, and mediated conflicts that arose within collectives, cohousing groups, non-profits, and cooperative businesses in the Bay Area and Seattle.

Committed to racial, gender, and economic justice, she was an ally to the American Indian Movement, the environmental movement, and was a central figure in the National Organization of Men Against Sexism.

Margo brought boundless energy and intellect to these efforts. In June, she participated fully in the United States Social Forum hosted in Detroit, where she conducted three workshops while wrestling with her illness.

Margo was born in Ithaca, NY, to Casey and John Adair, on February 26, 1950. Her family’s commitment to justice, love of the arts, and the world of ideas greatly influenced her development. She was the youngest of three creative children. As a child, she lived on the Navajo reservation in Arizona where her father worked as an anthropologist.

Her brother, Peter Adair, who died in 1995, is remembered for his groundbreaking work in film, producing two seminal works about gay and lesbian culture, Word is Out and Absolutely Positive. Her sister Nancy Adair worked with Peter on Word is Out and she co-edited a book by the same name. She also is an accomplished painter. Margo is survived by her partner, William Aal, and her sister Nancy, who lives in Willits, California. For nearly two decades, Margo and Bill have lived and worked together in Seattle. They co-founded Tools for Change, to help individuals and organizations address issues of power, embrace cultural diversity and tap into intuitive and creative resources. They co-authored Margo’s third book, Practical Meditations for Busy Souls, and together have explored the intricate dance between spirituality and social Justice.

–Susan Gleason, and other friends of Margo. A memorial will be held at University Friends Meeting in Seattle on October 16th from 9:45 AM to 1:30 PM. Another memorial will be held in San Francisco on November 13. More details of Margo’s life and about the memorials can be found at the web sites www.formargo.wordpress.com and www.toolsforchange.org.

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