Maggie Adams lived 35 years, almost half of her life, in Roseau, MN where she worked with her husband William ‘Bill’ Adams, ed Maggi Adams    Home    Art Openings    Board Members    Location    Membership


Maggie Adams lived 35 years, almost half of her life, in Roseau, MN where she worked with her husband William ‘Bill’ Adams, editor-publisher of the Roseau Times Region until their retirement at the end of 1983.  Maggi wrote countless feature stories for the local weekly, and Maggi’s column, ‘From My Window’ and Bill’s ‘The Cornerpost’ were favorites for many readers. 

(The story really begins when…..)

“After attending Wilson Jr. High and graduating from University High School (1940) in St. Paul, MN, Maggi went on to major in political science at the University of MN and  to take courses at a business college in Los Angeles, CA.  For six years she worked as a secretary for the Research Division of the Atomic Energy Commission (in Tennessee and in California).  Then she worked in the publicity department of 20th Century Fox Studios before studying art in Spain for two years.

‘In 1955 she entered journalism by the back door when she was asked to draw a series of 40 St. Paul landmarks for the Sunday St. Paul Pioneer Press.  By 1956 she was their fashion editor and advice columnist (‘Maggi Replies’ for teens and ‘Elizabeth Page’ for adults).  In 1963 she joined the Rome Daily American as a feature writer/illustrator; she interviewed many famous people and was the only woman reporter at Vatican II.  She met Bill Adams when she returned from Italy to attend an annual meeting of the MN Newspaper Association.  In 1966, he visited her in Rome where they married.

After 44 years of big city life, Maggi moved from bustling Rome to a small house in the small northwestern MN town of Roseau.  Tragically, in the process of Maggi’s move back to the USA, many of her belongings were stolen from the New York City docks.  The loss included many original paintings, which she had exhibited in four major Italian cities, and many sketches and photographs accumulated during her years in Europe.  Because these were intended for use as references for future paintings, their loss was a bitter blow.  For several years Maggi did not paint at all.  But, Maggi’s creativity and curiosity served her well as she threw herself in to the schedule of putting out a newspaper.

‘In 1971, Thomas Larson, an architect-friend designed, especially for the Adams, a unique house with a tower studio overlooking the Roseau River.  Eventually, Maggi picked up her brushes and began painting again.  After her daily journalistic work, she would go home and paint.  Her oil paintings, watercolors, pen and ink drawings, prints and collages began to pile up.

‘At some point, probably after their retirement at the end of 1983, Bill took some of her pictures to his computer and began writing first drafts of children’s stories to go with them.  Apparently, this encouraging nudge from Bill, stimulated Maggi to begin revising the stories and writing more stories.  For each story she developed from four to 15 drafts ‘ in prose, in poetry, typed and handwritten.

‘Only a few friends knew that Maggi was working on children’s stories.  Her notes suggest that she had resumed her revision process after spending time nursing Bill through the lingering illness which claimed his life in 1997 and before her own stroke about two years later.  She recovered enough to return to her home along the river, but her health did not permit her to polish all her stories before her death on June 12, 2002, exactly five years after Bill’s burial.

A review of the original manuscripts in all their forms and a penciled draft of a letter to a publisher, convinced her friends that Maggi’s dream was to publish a book of the imaginary Iggam’s dreams.  As her friends distilled Maggi’s many drafts, they worked hard to retain the intent and style of Maggi’s fourteen dream-tales printed in Iggam’s Dreams, Stories and Art by Maggi Adams.”

  

The book of 14 paintings and stories, "Iggam's Dreams" and Maggi Adams notecards of 6 different paintings are available at the Mayville State University bookstore, 701-788-4823.  Roseau Area Friends of the Library intend to use proceeds from the sales to help Roseau Public Library recover from the flood.