Rest in Peace, Margie Weiner

Margie Weiner was an exceptional woman, loved by all who knew her, from her fellow members at SIPA and other professional organizations to her staff here at Law Journal Newsletters to those in ALM's Philadelphia and New York offices to her many, many friends, neighbors, and of course family.I first met Margie in December 2002 when, laid off from my job as a medical editor, I applied at ALM with my heart in my throat and a complete lack of self-esteem; it had been a long, hard road from legal and business editing to medical editing and now I wanted back in. I should have acted like a professional, but I did not; I almost begged Margie for the job as one of three managing editors being hired for Law Journal Newsletters.Instead of giving me the brush-off, Margie, who was President of the ALM Philadelphia office (a title that retired with her) AND publisher of Law Journal Newsletters, patiently listened to my rather incoherent ramblings, asked key, pointed questions about my background, put me at ease, and made me laugh ' all in about 5 minutes. She hired me on the spot, and I thought, and still do, that I was the luckiest person in the world.During the rest of Margie's tenure at ALM and Law Journal Newsletters, I watched with admiration as she ran a complicated office full of editors, marketers, graphic artists, secretarial assistants, circulation and accounting professionals and others with her unique mix of confidence, aplomb ' and “chicken soup.” Yes, Margie was a Jewish Mother and proud of it ' at the point of her untimely death on Tuesday night, March 11, she was battling to keep the cancer from taking her before she could see her first-born grandson, due in April.All of us who knew her will remember her vivacity, her intelligence, her humor, her wit, her strength, her sheer professionalism'and her ability to say, 'It's the first day of Spring, pizza for everybody!'Rest in peace, Margie, may your memory be for a blessing.