A UM Star

I am writing in response to an article on female athletes in your spring issue (“Winning Respect”). Personally I think no article on athletics at the University of Miami is complete without mention of my mother Muriel Smith Marshall, A.B. ’46, who graduated as the Outstanding Female Graduate of the Year. She was an athlete in an era where it was not feminine to be an athlete, yet she was so beautiful and feminine that she became Orange Bowl Queen, Miss Miami, Miss Florida, and first runner-up to Miss America in 1943.

With strong interest in dance and gymnastics, she was recruited by the legendary Henry Fillmore to be a drum majorette at the University of Miami. Her goals of being an Olympic gymnast were cut short by the outbreak of World War II, but at the University she taught navigational trigonometry to pilot navigators training for the war. After a brief run as the entertainment director for Miami’s ill-fated professional football team, the Seahawks, she married Robert Aelian Marshall, a Pan American pilot she met while at the University of Miami.

My mom died last September but remained active in University of Miami activities and alumni associations until her death. I encourage you to dig in your archives and discover. She was a UM star, and I honor and miss her.

Deborah L. Marshall, B.M. ’73
Loxahatchee, Florida

Warm Fuzzies

I came to Miami in 1943 from New York, and although I never attended the University of Miami, I feel a connection to the institution that has kept me involved as a member of the Citizens Board for many years. Citizens Board director Joyce Galya (A.B. ’73, M.B.A. ’84) throughout the years has always made me feel welcomed and encouraged me to continue my efforts as a community activist and educator. I enjoy reading Miami magazine, and the most recent issue (fall 2006) gave me such a warm, fuzzy feeling that I wanted to tell you about it.

As I went all the way through the issue story by story, it was like a beating heart. It was real. I recognized the people in it and the meaning of an institution with thousands of people who make the world a better place. The cover story (“Going Global”) was particularly meaningful for me because it showed personal growth—insight on how people felt before their study abroad experiences and on who they became as a result.

The University of Miami is an example of how our institutions have an obligation to give all kinds of people—even those who didn’t spend four years there—a sense of community and to help them feel good about the world around them.

Marge Pearlson
Miami, Florida

Honey Days

I have many fond memories of my time at the University of Miami, and one that I will always cherish is having been a Hurricane Honey. I was a Honey all four years, serving as co-captain my junior and senior years. Many people didn’t understand our role in supporting the Athletic Department, but while we had a lot of fun, we also took our duties seriously.

During the fall home games, half of us would accompany prospective football recruits and sit with them during the game. The rest of the squad would work the skyboxes, which required the ultimate level of decorum, especially in the Level 1 skybox, which included the University president, high-level donors, and VIPs and celebrities. In the spring we would help host players being recruited, as well as former Hurricane/ current NFL players who would drop by for a visit. We would give campus tours, have meals in the players’ dining hall, and the weekends would include a boat ride through Coral Gables down to the bay.

In the community we represented the University at various charitable functions, and we often served as assistants to the golfers and VIPs at the Doral Ryder Open golf tournament. My favorite community event was when we were invited to the Fontainebleau Hotel Chocolate Festival. The mayor of Miami Beach was our anchor man in a tug-of-war against the hotel staff over a pit on the beach filled with chocolate ice cream.

The University of Miami gave me so much in the way of a great education. I like to think I gave a little back while having a great time as a Hurricane Honey. I am still proud every time I wear my Honeys shirt or jacket, and I will wear it with pride until the day I die.

TonyaMarie (Swearingen) Smith, A.B. ’90
Via the Internet

A Nod to the Storytellers

Dressed to the nines and jovial despite the drive from Hallandale Beach, George Drucker, 81, endured the tedious traffic to allow Miami magazine to photograph him with Frank Penedo, principal investigator of a UM study that assessed stress management in men diagnosed with prostate cancer. George’s wife of 44 years was a little concerned about the drive. “He’s a very special man,” she had told me on the phone the day before, pausing to stress the word very.

George, who participated in Penedo’s study, is indeed a special man. It’s not easy to talk to someone you’ve never met about your battle with prostate cancer and all of its intimate consequences. But George went out of his way to help Miami magazine tell his story.

Similarly, it’s not easy to describe what it was like to confront the mortality of your child. Nicole and Kevin Keller talked to us about the moment they learned their son would be born with a rare heart malformation and would need a series of lifesaving surgeries. And on a delightful Saturday in October, when there were so many other things the family could have been doing, they invited Miami magazine into their home to photograph 3-year-old Garhett, who generously interrupted his playtime to flash our photographers a rosy, dimpled grin.

Most people like to keep their private lives private. But the people appearing on the pages of Miami magazine have invited 127,000-plus readers to share in their most profound periods of strength, weakness, and growth. Over the years I’ve learned that people usually consider it an honor, rather than an inconvenience, to be featured in the magazine. Their rationale is the same as mine. It’s an honor to be a part of an institution with an altruistic mission—to educate, employ, help, and heal human beings.

Every day I am thankful for the people who share their stories with me and with all of you. They are the human face of our institution, the people who enlighten us about experiences and emotions we might not otherwise understand.

— Meredith Danton, Editor