ABOUT EDGAR MAY

Edgar May, for whom this organization was named in 2009, was a beloved member of this community. He was a Vermont state senator, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, CEO of the Special Olympics, and the key player in creating our community health and recreation center here in Springfield, Vermont.

Edgar was born in Zurich, Switzerland on June 27, 1929. In June of 1940, Edgar, his mother Renee (Bloch) May, and his sister Madeline Kunin (former Vermont governor, 1985–1991) emigrated to the United States on the S.S. Manhattan.

Edgar’s mother instilled in him that “anything is possible in America.” He graduated from Princeton High School in New Jersey and went on to be a clerk for the New York Times while he studied at Columbia University. Edgar also served in the United States Army during the Korean War as a speechwriter, and he went on to receive a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University in 1957.

He was a reporter for the Bellows Falls Times, Fitchburg Sentinel, and the Buffalo Evening News. While in Buffalo, he investigated New York state’s welfare systems and wrote a series titled “Our Costly Dilemma,” which brought about reforms and earned Edgar a Pulitzer Prize in Local Reporting. His series was adapted into a book in 1964, titled The Wasted Americans, and led to his career in the Lyndon Johnson administration as Inspector General on the War on Poverty alongside Sargent Shriver.

In 1965, he purchased Muckross Park in Springfield, his much loved home. Edgar served in the Vermont House of Representatives (1974–1982) and the Vermont State Senate (1984–1990).

In the decline of Springfield’s machine tool industry, Edgar saw an opportunity to revitalize the community with the creation of a health and recreation center. From 1997 to 2006, Edgar worked tirelessly to campaign, fundraise, and recruit volunteers to build the recreation center. He was particularly passionate about serving both youth and seniors in the community and creating a space that welcomed everyone. To quote Edgar, this facility would be “a place where people will be on the inside looking out—not on the outside looking in.”

Edgar died on December 27, 2012, in Tucson, Arizona, but his legacy lives on through this facility and the opportunity it brings individuals of all ages to pursue an active and healthy lifestyle.

A copy of Edgar’s memoir, Thank you for my Green Card, will be available for members to borrow at the Front Desk.