By Olfa Meliani (MALD '99)

Maria Judge describes herself as the "granddaughter of immigrants and the daughter of gypsies." As so many of us at Fletcher, she laughs as she says that she has the hardest time answering the simplest of questions: "Where are you from?" Born in Germany to American parents, she has lived successively in Ireland, Germany, the U.S. and Chile as a child. The second of nine children, she was brought up in a tradition of appreciation for education and for the value it provides to people. Her father was an academic who worked for the Navy, Catholic Relief Services and the Peace Corps and taught economics.

Although Judge never thought she would work in academia after her B.A. in languages and her MBA, she has been at Fletcher for 15 years. "It is such a wonderful place," she glows. "I have been very happy here. I have been able to grow and to take on responsibilities and interesting challenges." In 1984, Judge was appointed Budget Officer. Five years later, she took the position of Assistant Dean and six years after that, was promoted to the position of Associate Dean that she occupies today.

Although Dean Judge has excelled in her work, she has another, deeper interest--writing.

At an early age, she took to writing a chronicle of her family. In junior high school, she edited the school's journal and wrote cinema reviews (covering The Sound of Music, for instance). 12 years ago, she decided to act on her interest in writing and registered in a writing workshop. This enabled her to start writing again, more seriously this time.

She says: "I am leaving Fletcher because I would like to take time off to write. It has become harder and harder to find extended periods of time that I need in order to write. I have a lot of unfinished material that I would like to finish."

There is one story in particular that Dean Judge would like to finish: her own. A few years ago, the dean was diagnosed with cancer. "This helped me realize that you shouldn’t postpone the things that you want to do indefinitely," she says. When she was sick, she kept a journal and a photo journal. "So many members of my family and so many of my friends were far away, that it seemed natural to take pictures to share this with them." She transformed these pictures into a photo essay entitled, "Toxic, Tattooed and Tougher Than Margaret Thatcher" that premiered at Fletcher in April 1998. It has since become a traveling exhibit and has received very favorable reviews.

Judge talks about her cancer with humor. "It was an unpleasant treatment, but not as unpleasant as I thought it would be. A lot of funny stuff happened and I wanted to share the experience. More and more people survive cancer today." She wanted to underline the lighter aspects of the experience. She is fond of telling anecdotes about her wig, or her irrational fear that, when her hair started falling out, it would stay behind on her chair when she stood up.

"When I show the exhibit, people laugh and then look around to check that they haven’t done something wrong." But in fact that's what the exhibit is for: demystifying the disease, giving hope, giving patients back their smile. Given the success of her exhibit, Judge wants to use the notes of her journal and write a book in the same tone.

Since she has always wanted to dedicate more time to her writing, Judge thinks that it is time for her to take a chance and leave Fletcher to write full-time. Resigning in order to write is a big decision, "But it is my decision … When I tell people, they think it is great, and it does provoke discussion. People usually say things like 'I could never,' or 'I really wish I could do it.'" 

Judge wants to finish her book about cancer first, and if she can support herself by her writing, finish her other projects. She currently has three other books in progress: a memoir of growing up in several countries; a novel; and a collection of travel essays.

She has been in contact with several publishers and already has an agent. It seems her take on the disease is unique. More than 1.2 million people are diagnosed with cancer every year, and there is a need for books such as Judge’s. She recalls, "When I was first diagnosed, I tried to get information on the disease and the treatment, and the books I read were always horrible, describing the cold-hearted bureaucrats, the awful experience, etc." Dean Judge’s contribution would be a welcome addition in the landscape of books on that topic.

When Maria Judge talks about writing, there is passion in her voice. She says that she never lacks ideas; she just has to dedicate more time to it. "My favorite quote about writing goes something like: "Writing is the art of applying the seat of your pants to the seat of your chair." I am confident that with enough time, I will be able to accomplish something."

I remarked that her decision to resign required a lot of courage, but she answered that it didn't. "It feels so right. My health is good and writing about my cancer [makes me feel like] some value can come out of it." Although she is excited to realize her dreams, she says she will miss Fletcher and the friends she made here, Professors Pfaltzgraff and Schultz especially, who used to take her out for "Pizza therapy" on her chemo days.

She loves Fletcher and intends to return for some of the events (Follies, Commencement, etc.). The library assures her that when her book is published, they will be the first to host her book talk. In any case, we are confident of her success and wish her the very best of luck.

Comments? Write us at letter@fletcherledger.com

[return to Features Page]