WASHINGTON -- A single woman adopting a child hardly raises an eyebrow these days. She met babysitters who told stories of her cajoling candy from American GIs, and family members who remembered hiding under the bed with an infant Holly as bombs fell on a nearby Army base in Nha Trang. Its easy to describe what it feels like to have a conversation with her shes warm, charming, smart, honest, wide-ranging, open, and avowedly Luddite. Margolies was booted in 1994, after a single term. "I knew I wanted to parent," Margolies said. She took four ballet classes a week, played team sports, was head cheerleader and an honors student, and finished junior high school in two years. The main reason for Babkas trip to Israel was to meet Danish. "She had this great energy. Thirty-nine years after she left, Holly went to Vietnam in 2012, with Margolies. If I have problems with her, I go to Margie. After exactly three minutes and 30 seconds, Margolies stops talking and yields the floor to Madam Secretary, who proceeds to flesh out the story about the time she busted a move with a younger guy at Marc and Chelseas wedding. (All photos courtesy Marjorie Margolies). Last night I came back to the house after being away on a story, and my 18-year-old started to yell, 'Mommy's home', and the younger ones followed suit and then the 3-year-old started shouting, as they all ran down the stairs. Margoliess brief remarks are apolitical; she mentions the race only to tell people to direct questions to her staff. In exchange for her vote on the budget bill, President Clinton agreed to attend a conference on entitlement reform in her district. "I had done lots of stories on hard-to-place kids," Margolies said - kids from war zones, kids who had grown up on the streets. "And a lot of those feelings she put in jars, figuratively speaking, and left them there.". Former US Representative Marjorie Margolies, 79, claims to be the first single woman in the US to adopt internationally (pictured in 2016) She adopted Lee Heh from Korea in 1970 and Holly. Other rewards followed. Of course, it was not without its moments to say the least, it didnt work all the time but it was terrific.. Local author finds out; along the way he learnshow to network, write, and publish a book, Barnert Temple rededicates Centerville Cemetery, Synagogue in Franklin Lakes restores its old burial ground in Clifton, Real estate magnate Joseph Barry sponsors concert celebrating Israel at 75, Josh Gottheimer talks about his trip to Israel with Hakeem Jeffries. 'I got way too involved in the story!' Chelsea Clinton's journalist Surrounded by family members she was meeting for the first time, Holly, a bit nervous, turned to humor. When she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2013, he said, his wife began, at last, to open those jars. Margolies chronicled their experiences in the 1976 best-seller, They Came to Stay (Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1976), the first of five books she has authored. Lee Margolies lives in Montclair, NJ; previous city include New York NY. When she is portrayed as a benevolent soul who has taken in the world's lost children, Margolies gets squeamish. "They lived with us for 25 years," Margolies shared. Holly arrived sickly. Executive Board - Succeed2gether Essex women pool resources to make an 'Impact' - North Jersey Media Group Life lessons from an Israeli cab driver. Perhaps the question to ask is not whether the Clintons will comebut whether itll make any difference if they do. She quit working to spend more time with her sons. Son #3 and I decided to take a cab to Rechaviah, a Jerusalem neighborhood vastly different from the one where my Son #2 and DIL #2 live. And I thought, here I am, standing here, part of all this. When Holly came, it was like receiving a letter bomb. "I can't believe you're so relaxed," voter Sandy Levitt marveled to Mezvinsky last weekend at a crafts fair where she was trolling for votes. My dad was tikkun-ish, she said. But there was a lot of buzz about it being the Year of the Woman, she added. Margolies told TODAY. 'I started to look when I was 25,' remembers Margolies, now a reporter with WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. She shuttles between the capital and her home in Philadelphia. Free Sign Up, Ms. Margolies will talk about that book and of course about her life, as well as her work on Zoom for the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades in Tenafly on January 19. "She smoked. "I could tell you if we ever had guests, Holly would walk in and shed say, 'Are we gonna adopt any of these people?'" Then, lowering her voice and raising her eyebrows, she adds, Its a good question, darling. She pauses and tries to get serious. Margolies and Mezvinsky also have two biological children, Mark, 7, and Andrew, 3. She tried to get up and leave with them sometimes, even toward the end. What she did next changed history. Ms. Margolies considered running a few other times, for a few other seats and got as far as a primary, but her elective career ended in 1994. I hope she wins.". Former US Rep. reveals was first single woman to adopt internationally As a journalist, Mezvinsky rarely drew a clear line between her reporting and her life. They all learned from each other. Simon van Zuylen-Wood is a reporter forPhiladelphia magazine. After reporting a story for Philadelphia television on hard-to-place Korean orphans, she was moved to adopt one, and persuaded reluctant adoption officials to let her become the mother of 6-year-old Lee Heh in 1970. You would feel used.. When Albright and Margolies stop posing for pictures with donors, Margolies, now 71, and impeccable in pearls and an elegant floral jacket, takes the mic and explains why shes running. She was working as an occasional correspondent for four NBC programs, including "Today." The adoption agencies basically said no. As she shakes hands in town after town, it is sometimes hard to tell whether the recently lapsed journalist is conducting interviews for a story or campaigning. But I knew that in a million years, I would never, ever, do that.". She was born Ho Thi Thu Nga in Nha Trang, Vietnam, to a Vietnamese woman and an American serviceman. Adopting with heart;NEWLN:Margolies: She discovered her heart by - UPI Sign Up now to stay up to date with all of the latest news from TCM. The first death occurred on Aug. 5, 1993, when Clinton was one vote short of passing a budget bill and convinced Margolies to change her mind. She was also a fiscal hawk representing Philadelphias moneyed suburbs; prior to her election, her district had gone Republican every year since 1916. Lee Heh Margolies, Age 59 aka Elleheh Margolies, Lee Hem Margolies, Margolies Lee, L Margolies Current Address: NNME Erwin Park, Montclair, NJ Past Addresses: New York NY, Montclair NJ +5 more Phone Number: (973) 632- BYJX +9 phones Email Address: See available information UNLOCK PROFILE Phone & Email (10) All Addresses (8) Family (5) Social Court Lee Heh arrived from Korea in 1970 and was joined four years later by Holly from Vietnam. Alas, Holly passed away mid-May 2016 following a three-year battle with cervical cancer. "I was going to reconcile that and understand that thats what made me a better mother.". "I was known as the real Dairy Queen," she said of her days at WRC, where she pumped breast milk between assignments, froze it and carted it home by car every week. ", "The other day," said daughter Holly Margolies, 24, "she said to me, 'I want another baby.' At no point did I think I would win., It is of course impossible to know what would have happened had she not been the deciding vote on President Bill Clintons budget bill. She comes in, she meets with [Hillary], but [Hillary] doesnt do a shout-out for her. He adds, I am fairly confident by the end of this campaign that well see the Clintons help a lot. Its certainly plausible: Margolies has already received a $2,600donation from Bill and a surrogate in the person of Madeleine Albright. Marjorie Margolies: Roe Decision May Make 2022 Another 'Year of the Margolies became the first single woman to adopt internationally in the United States of America. Department: The Feminist: Marjorie Margolies - Page 2 of 5 I think its old news. 'Everybody takes turns cooking,' says Margolies. "I started to do a series on Korean orphans adopted in this area," she said. Margolies married Ed Mezvinsky in 1975, and four years later they took in a Vietnamese boat family which includes Suu, her son Vu, 10, and Suu's two nephews, Hai, 23, and Dang, 21. She had been the first single woman in U.S. history to adopt a kid from a foreign country: Lee Heh, a South Korean girl, who eventually became one of 11 children Margolies would consider her owna large family including her biological, adopted, step- and surrogate children. As one of the swindled told the Philadelphia Inquirerat the time, Who expects to be taken to the cleaners when youve got an ex-congressman whose wife is running for the Senate? Mezvinsky eventually got in so deep that he fell for one of the original Nigerian-guy-needs-cash email scams, losing up to an estimated $3 million just to try to feed the scheme. Marc was not in favor of Marjorie running, she tells me. Marjorie Margolies, 79, was a reporter for WCAU in Philadelphia. It doesnt work all the time, though, and I was sure that I would lose. Toni Goldberg defends Margolies as a career woman who was too busy to pay heed to her husbands schemes, but she says the judges indictment made sense to many at the time. She's very plugged in to their emotions, but they could wear pajamas to school and it wouldn't bother Margie if it didn't bother them. [1] He later spent five years as head of East Coast research for Fox Films, a predecessor company of 20th Century . Her TV series, airing on NBC stations Christmas week, 'Finding Your Home, Discovering Your Heart', traces Lee Heh's return to Korea with Margolies to discover the child's roots.'. Montclair Fund For Educational Excellence Inc - Nonprofit Explorer (Marc was her first biological child; his brother Andrew, now an artist, was born a few years later.) As we walk along the road to find a cab, Ukrainian familys escape is supported, filmed by local shul, Abraham Foxman talks about the Holocaust from his vantage point as a child survivor, Rachel Kahn of Fort Lee embraces her new role as director of North Jersey-Rockland JNF, Jews, Muslims share iftar at Shomrei Torah in Wayne, Randolph woman joins nonprofit to work with young Jews on making things better, Looking back at what we remember, what we miss, and what we take with us, Cantor Lenny Mandels life experiences allow him to conduct funerals of depth and meaning, American Jewish criticism of Israel is increasingly ignorant and libelous, Netanyahus assault on democracy hits a speed bump. Lee Heh, now 21, was hers, but Margolies didn't stop there. | AP Photo. Holly Werth, daughter of former congresswoman, leaves a legacy filled And she was very, very funny. In 1970, Margolies was a TV reporter when an assignment took her to Korea for.