Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1367665
Aer More Than 50 Years, Influential SAG-AFTRA Executive Says Goodbye 68 SAG-AFTRA | Spring 2021 | sagaftra.org J OHN T. McGUIRE may not be a household name, but members owe this longtime staff member a debt of gratitude. During an unprecedented staff tenure record of 52 years, McGuire has been quietly working hard on members' behalf. He is the force behind so many elements of the union's agreements; and he helped to create the SAG-AFTRA Foundation and New York's Museum of the Moving Image. After an impactful career, McGuire has decided to retire, but his colleagues will miss him — and his encyclopedic knowledge — dearly. "As a person, your integrity, your discipline, your ability to see inside of a situation and understand nuance, is really nothing I've seen before," said National Executive Director David White during a virtual retirement tribute attended by industry leaders around the globe. And the feeling is mutual. "It's been a great trip, I must say," said McGuire. "This is one of the finest staffs I have ever been associated with in the 52 years [at the union]." McGuire began his tenure with the union on April 7, 1969, joining the executive staff of the Screen Actors Guild's New York office fresh out of Fordham Law. He quickly mastered every detail of the contracts and was promoted to SAG's New York executive secretary — the equivalent of executive director — in 1974. By 1982, the union recognized that McGuire was indispensable