Meredith Savery

I met Julie in the check out line at the grocery store thirty years ago. She asked if I was Meredith Savery and then began to shower me with praise. I liked her immediately.

She hired me to help her navigate the merger between Portland Arts & Lectures and the Oregon Institute of Literary Arts, and I was privileged to watch Literary Arts become the financial and cultural juggernaut it still is. Her ability to connect viscerally with the 3,000 people that filled the Schnitz for each lecture for ten years and to build strong personal relationships with patrons laid the foundation for the organization’s enduring success.

As her career evolved, we talked about each job change she made. I always discouraged her from taking any job in which she wasn’t at the top of the org chart. Being a subordinate wasn’t her strong suit. It was her commitment to the mission, her vision, and her charisma that made her a consummate leader. But she was smart enough to recognize that role models would help her, and she forged deep bonds with strong male mentors -- Steve Wynne, Bart Eberwein, Ken Thrasher. I loved how fundamentally Italian she was. The dark skin, the hands that punched the air as she talked, the obscure curses (ma fungool), the Anna Magnani hair, the Armani suits. She was outrageous in endearing ways. She was the first adult woman who kissed me on the mouth. She could eat five little ice cream cones in two minutes. She had the interrogation skills of a member of the Stasi, but she was always searching for that point of vulnerability where she could affirm your value and importance to her.

Kudos to Peter for creating this website which allows us all to see the breadth of her influence and impact. She was one of a kind. Beautiful, beautiful Julie. How I will miss her!