Maxine Sue Besser Marshall, 89, died June 17, 2015. Maxine attended Washington University. She moved to New York City in 1954, where she worked for the National Committee for an Effective Congress. She married Jonathan Marshall in 1955, and they moved to the Valley in 1963 when he became publisher and editor of the Scottsdale Daily Progress. For the Daily Progress, she wrote four weekly columns. She edited the Saturday Magazine, a literary, news and cultural weekly published as part of the Daily Progress. As editor, she featured the early work of noted writers Tobias Wolff, Rita Dove, Denis Johnson, Ron Carlson, Norman Dubie and Arizona Poet Laureate Alberto Rios. Marshall earned a bachelor's degree from ASU in 1976 and an honorary doctorate of humane letters degree from ASU in 1994.The ASU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences gave Marshall its Distinguished Achievement Award in 1988 and selected her to its Hall of Fame in 2001. She served as chairman of the board of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest and was a founding member of the Phoenix Charter 100. In 1997, she won the Body Positive LIFE Award from Scottsdale Mayor Sam Campana for her contributions to the community's quality of life and her advocacy for cultural diversity, civil rights and AIDS awareness. Marshall and her husband led the Marshall Fund of Arizona from 1987 to 2003. Together they launched the Marshall Lecture Series at ASU, and endowed ASU's Maxine and Jonathan Marshall Chair in Modern and Contemporary Poetry. They also funded the Maxine and Jonathan Marshall Butterfly Pavilion at the Desert Botanical Garden. A grant from the Marshall Fund allowed the Arizona Nature Conservancy to preserve land next to Ramsey Canyon Park to ensure the survival of several species of hummingbirds. Maxine and The Marshall Fund won awards for leadership and service to the community from ASU, the Arizona Theatre Company, the Arizona chapter of the Nature Conservancy, the Arizona Historical Foundation, and The Desert Foothills Land Trust. She was a member of the 1981 White House Conference on Aging, served on the Advisory Council to the Area Agency on Aging, the Advisory Council of Displaced Homemakers, and the Pritzlaff Commission on Long Term Care for Arizona. She was also one of the original organizers of the Scottsdale Senior Center. Planned Parenthood of Central and Northern Arizona gave Marshall its Maggie Award in 1987. In 1999, she and Jonathan earned the Scottsdale Life Achievement Award. Marshall is survived by four children and seven grandchildren. A memorial service for Marshall was held on Sunday, June 21, 2015, at Temple Solel in Paradise Valley. Donations in her memory can be made to Project Humanities at Arizona State University, P.O. Box 873003, Tempe 85287-3003; or the Desert Botanical Garden, 1201 N. Galvin Parkway, Phoenix 85008.