Martin Magid

Martin Magid

Martin Magid died in his sleep on August 29, 2013 from CBGD-a disease he did not allow to impede his enjoyment of food, movies, sports and the News Hour on PBS. Born July 11, 1944 in New York, the third of three children of Rubin and Sarah Magid, Martin spent most of his formative years in the Bronx. He was a graduate of Stuyvesant High School and Hunter College, before giving up a teaching deferment and moving to San Francisco where he worked at the San Francisco Public Library, finding his future vocation. Drafted, he served in Vietnam before returning to the Bronx and working at that New York Public Library. After a very brief stint in the Peace Corps in Tehran, he returned to San Francisco where he met his future wife, Lorraine Magid (ne Gagnon, d. 2010), while working at Social Services. After a first date of fried lox and Bridge on the River Kwai, a whirlwind courtship followed and two months later they were married. They had two sons, Alexander and Nathan (d. 2008). Martin completed his Master's in Library Sciences at University of California at Berkeley and worked at the San Francisco Public Library (excepting a three year sojourn to the Dalles, OR) in various departments before settling in as the head of Library for the Blind. Those are the facts of his life. Harder to convey is the enormity of the personality and the lack left in the lives of those who loved him by his passing. Martin was a man of perpetual curiosity, who thrived on exacting detail, who loved generously and wholly. Conversation was always lively, trivia was always flowing, and laughter was always free and easy. Alexander, his daughter-in-law Jennifer, and their son Dalton survive Martin. A memorial will be held at Lincoln Presbyterian on September 14th at 11:30. In lieu of flowers, the family would ask for donations to the Brain Support Network, which supports families dealing with "atypical Parkinson's".