Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/216003
A Letter from the Secretary-Treasurer A M Y A QU INO "Our convention reflected everything she stood for: mutual respect, honesty, intelligence, humor, openness …" Dear Member, W ithin four bittersweet weeks this fall, SAG-AFTRA held its first triumphant convention and it lost one of its most dedicated leaders: Board member Marcia Wallace. When my husband first introduced me to his friend Marcia Wallace, I learned she'd been militating for merger of SAG and AFTRA since the 1960s. So, five years ago, when a group of us determined to try one more time, she jumped at the chance to run. Always self-deprecating, she told us nonetheless to use her celebrity if it would help. We did, and only then did I understand how universally loved and respected she was — her association with our campaign for unity was invaluable. But she didn't stop at lending us her famous face. As a SAG National Board member, she served on and chaired committees, supported our causes, and attended nearly every board meeting. Everyone knows that she was a comic genius. But as her board colleagues, we also experienced her brilliantly sharp mind, her deadly accurate memory, her vast knowledge of literature and politics, her fairness and lack of prejudice, her utter honesty, and her huge and inclusive heart. But since she never, ever let us forget that she was in it for merger, we referred to her always as Marcia "Merger" Wallace. 14 SAG-AFTRA 14-15_sectreslttr_F1.indd 14 Though it wasn't until very recently that it kept her from a meeting or even put a dent in her positive attitude and humor, Marcia's health had never been great. So, as she shared her ups and downs with us, she suggested the joking motto that we adopted: "Merger before Marcia Wallace croaks." It gave her a kick and inspired us all. It was she who made the initial merger motion in the SAG boardroom, and when the successful vote was announced two years later, it was her face that we looked for, beaming and crying. Elected a founding SAG-AFTRA National Board member, Marcia was bereft that she wasn't well enough to attend our inaugural convention. And I was as well, because our convention reflected Marcia Wallace everything she stood for: mutual respect, honesty, intelligence, humor, openness — and no interest in, or tolerance for, anything else. Attending AFTRA and AFL-CIO conventions in the past, however positive, left me unprepared for what I experienced in September. None of the many union campaigns I'd run compared with the democratic engagement of the convention elections, where good solid candidates ran to fill a need, presented their points of view and were endorsed by colleagues who knew them personally. Delegates then voted for people they saw and heard, not for names or pictures. Not entrenched in either "SAG" or "AFTRA," delegates' focus was on our work. Understanding that only unity can protect us, they saw artificial divisions — between broadcasters and actors, between the coasts and the heartland, between large markets and small — as the waste of resources that they truly are. Convention was a giant step toward a true SAG-AFTRA culture. Someone once said ruefully that "SAG came to the dance in heels, AFTRA came in flip-flops." There may be some truth in that, and both have their place and served each union well in many ways. But SAG-AFTRA is in this for the long haul, and in today's world you won't go very fast or very far in either one. With our first convention, we tried out something brand new. I believe it was a wonderful fit. Marcia's autobiography, a wry and uplifting look at the trials in her life, is titled Don't Look Back, We're Not Going that Way. If we're smart, we'll adopt that as our new motto, and as her final gift to the fellow union members she cared so much about. Amy Aquino | Fall 2013 | SAGAFTRA.org 11/14/13 4:29 PM