One of the great social movements of the last half of the 20th century was the Feminist Movement. It continues today to try to transform America and bring it closer to the promise of equality for all citizens.

This piece is not really about the Feminist Movement directly. This column is about Jane Muskie, whose funeral Mass was held last Monday in the Washington area.

Her life was multidimensional, and I cannot pretend to capture even a small fraction of it rich fullness.

Sally and I had the privilege of knowing Jane and Ed Muskie in their autumn years. It was a friendship we both treasure.

Jane Muskie lived her life on both sides of the feminist divide in American life. The youngest of six children, she was a young Baptist who converted to Catholicism and married an older Waterville lawyer. Early in her life on the far side of the feminist divide, Jane indicated a propensity to make her own way on her own terms. While she considered this the Maine way, it is appropriate to note that such a belief is at the heart of what most people call modern feminism today.

Jane was acutely aware of living on both sides of the feminist divide. As she told a colleague, people asked for recipes in the early years of her public life, but they asked her about her positions on public policy in the later years. Through the whole of her life, she was a good cook who nurtured her five children into full and productive citizens, and she was knowledgeable and deeply engaged in public policy issues.

Don’t get me wrong, she was no Hillary Clinton, but she had strong opinions on all the issues. What I am trying to say is that Jane Muskie lived with integrity and consistency on both sides of the feminist divide, and in doing so she mirrored qualities of life that modern feminists admire and honor.

Maintaining equal footing with a man like Ed Muskie was no small accomplishment. He was a large and somewhat overbearing man. Patience, unless it was in shepherding a piece of legislation through the Senate or playing within his kids, was not a prominent virtue for him. There was always that infamous volcanic Muskie temper. But she knew how to deal with it.

Sometimes small events reveal a great deal about a person. Sally and I met Jane and Ed at their Bethesda home, and we went to one of their favorite restaurants for dinner. Jane insisted on driving. We arrived to a full parking lot, and Ed urged her to park by the Dumpster that had a “No Parking” designation. She resisted and circled around, but finally reluctantly gave in as Ed’s impatience got louder and louder. As we walked to the restaurant and a parking spot opened up, she allowed that she would go back to move the car so that it would be legally parked. Ed blew and said to us ” I don’t understand. I have a wife that once she gets something in her head she just does it.”

High testimony indeed to that independent spirit that would not expect preferential treatment because he was a senator.

Jane was a great campaigner. She once told us that each time Ed enjoyed it less, but she actually looked forward to it. She had made friends across the state, and campaign time was an opportunity to renew those friendships. She added consistent charm, humor and grace to the campaign trail. She was also his adviser on how the campaign was going. She liked people. She connected naturally with them.

This was a woman of great human compassion. She spoke movingly about the needs of the poor, about the environmental degradation that endangers us all, and she believed fervently in the efficacy of diplomacy in advancing the cause of peace. She stood four squares with Ed, who tried to bring justice to Cambodia. She believed that government had a responsibility to be an active part of the solutions that would bring peace to the world and reduce poverty.

Sally and I never witnessed long detailed debates about public policy between them. They were not Clintonesque in that regard. We did witness from time to time brief, razor-sharp comments as Ed held forth at length. Sometimes they buttressed his position, but occasionally they took the wind out of his sails.

Jane had great intuitive sense. It was rooted in her sense of right and wrong.

There was a mischievous quality to Jane. On one occasion, she was a co-conspirator with Sally in the purchase of an expensive painting of Goose Rocks Beach as a birthday present for me. The next time she saw me, she beamed as I expressed the great joy it continues to give me. She said, “Enjoy it, and don’t ask how much it cost!”

No picture of Jane would be complete without reference to her wonderful wit. She loved to laugh. I mean, really laugh. She had a wonderful sense of humor that ranged from appreciation of her husband’s puns to a robust sarcasm aimed at windbag political colleagues of both parties, but especially Republicans. In between was a healthy, wholesome sense of humor that was expertly employed, especially when Ed got too full of himself.

Bottom line: Maine and the nation lost a gem when she passed. She was comfortable on both sides of the feminist divide because she was her own person of integrity and consistency. She did not fit anybody else’s mold – not even Ed’s, whom she adored.

Her character was formed by a profound commitment to the American ideal of equality, a compassionate concern for the less fortunate and an abiding belief in the need to bring real peace to the world.

She could chat with friends on the campaign trail on Lisbon Street late at night or be sitting with Mrs. Sadat in Cairo and you saw the same person. She was down to earth, Maine. She was a regular person, but paradoxically, quite extraordinary. She was comfortable in the world of recipes and public policy.

Jim Carignan is a retired educator who lives in Harpswell. His e-mail address is carignans@suscom-maine.net.

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