A Memory of Margaret G. Stineman

Amy Houtrow’s tribute to Margaret Stineman provided an excellent overview of Margaret’s life and accomplishments. Margaret was a true giant of the rehab world, as Dr Houtrow stated. Like many academic physiatrists, I have been influenced by Margaret’s publications, but I also remember her infectious sense of humor. I met Margaret on a Johnson & Johnson Blue Ribbon Panel put together to provide clinical and academic input during the development of the iBOT. The Panel met about twice yearly between 1995 and 2000. At the inevitable dinners, I always did my best to sit at Margaret’s table. If I was not successful, Margaret’s laughter, and that of her lucky fellow diners, could be heard punctuating the event from many tables away. One story that I remember her relating involved her travel to one of the Panel meetings by train. When the train arrived, there was great consternation by the hosts meeting her about how they could get her and her wheelchair to the hotel. The problem was eventually solved, to Margaret’s great amusement, by the hosts calling an ambulance and having her placed on a stretcher! We sat in rapt attention listening to her recount this adventure, amazed at both her resilience and her unwillingness to be offended by the exaggerated solution. I believe this anecdote exemplifies the kind of person Margaret was, a unique example to us all.