My friend Lois Malone passed away this morning at 2:45 a.m. She was 79 years old.
The story of Lois is not every woman’s story but it seems to start that way. She was precocious and her unconventional beauty was joined to a simple, almost austere style unpopular at the time.
Lois preoccupation with world affairs led her to an extraordinary life of world travel, including brushes with fame and infamy. She left home at eighteen for a career in the U.S. foreign service that included stints in Panama, Karachi, Cairo, Beirut, Cannes, Washington and more.
Early in her career her wit, charm and beauty served government interests very well as she gathered intelligence at cocktail parties from South America to the Riviera. Scions of industry, senators, ambassadors and rock stars all succumbed to her warmth and charisma.
After retirement she formed a consulting group with her second husband, Joe Malone. Their clients were usually corporate and banking executives seeking entree into middle eastern affairs.
After retirement she formed a consulting group with her second husband, Joe Malone. Their clients were usually corporate and banking executives seeking entree into middle eastern affairs.
But staid Wall Street types weren't the only types who appreciated her contacts and skills.
She arranged for the Grateful Dead to perform at the Son et Lumiere Theatre at the pyramids near Cairo which sealed a life long friendship with the band members.
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The Dead called her "Nursey" because of the way Lois looked after them. The band knew they were always welcome in Lois' Georgetown home and spent a number of Thanksgiving dinners there.
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I recorded ten hours of video interviews with Lois three years ago and it's my hope to be able to produce a biopic on her life.
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I'll miss her.
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Lois' Washington Post Obit:
Lois H. Malone, nee Fleischhacker, 79, died Thursday morning, August 14, 2008 at her home in St. Paul, Minnesota, of complications from pulmonary vascular disease.
Mrs. Malone lived and worked in Washington for several decades of her eclectic career. An art critic and businesswoman, as well as a translator and editor, Lois Malone served in the United States Foreign Service in several Latin American countries as well as in the Far East before joining the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Born in St. Paul, Mrs. Malone attended St. Josephs Academy and continued her education at the American University of Beirut and at Georgetown University, in Washington, D.C.
Mrs. Malone left Minnesota for the first time to serve in the U.S. Embassy in Panama, and then served posts in Buenos Aires, and Karachi, Pakistan. She remained in the U.S. Foreign Service for almost eight years, and left to join the staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, chaired by Senator Theodore F. Green.
In 1959, Mrs. Malone moved to Cannes, France, where she resided for four years and honed her cooking skills with Julia Child and Simone Beck. During her time in France, she developed her interests in the visual arts and learned French, her third language.
Eventually, her culinary expertise would lead her to the position of Executive Chef at the Immigration & Naturalization Service, where she cooked for dignitaries visiting from all corners of the world.
But it was her proficiency in languages and culture that led to her career as an editor and translator of articles and research papers written in French and English. She moved to Beirut in 1963, and would remain in Lebanon for the next decade.
She was the art critic for the English-language daily the Daily Star in Beirut, and would later become an art critic for several American publications, including the Manhattan (Kansas) Mercury.
In 1974 she began a career as a consultant for corporations and organizations working in the Middle East, and founded Middle East Research Associates, whose roster of clients would include an improbable range from Aramco to Martin Marietta to the Grateful Dead.
The rock band would credit Mrs. Malone as being the key player in arranging and producing a seminal concert series at the pyramids in Giza, Egypt.
Mrs. Malone is survived by her three children: her son Sean Harris, of Washington D.C., and her daughters Nicole Harris and Gaye Harris Correl (Stephen), by three grandchildren: Hailas Baatsch, Aisha Casas and Julius Correl, all of Portland. She is also survived by sisters Carole Basil, of Plymouth, Minnesota, and Judith Morrison, and her brother Thomas Fleischhacker, both of St. Paul. Interment services are private, but a Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Mrs. Malone‘s favorite charity, Sounds of Hope, Ltd., 253 East Fourth Street, Suite 205, Saint Paul, MN 55101. Interment services are private, but a Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Mrs. Malone's favorite charity, Sounds of Hope, Ltd., 253 East Fourth Street, Suite 205, Saint Paul, MN 55101.
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