Launched in 2005, WellesleyWeston Magazine is a quarterly publication tailored to Wellesley and Weston residents and edited to enrich the experience of living in two of Massachusetts' most desirable communities.
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they continue their research at Harvard. Of the two, Marshall is better known to the general public. As an economist specializing in Russia, he was often in the media spotlight during the breakup of the Soviet Union. Merle is one of the nation's foremost experts on Chinese intel- lectuals and their push for democracy. Both Goldmans have been called on for advice from presidents and congressmen. Merle Goldman, who will be 83 this year, has been following China longer than its current president, Xi Jinping, has been alive. The book- shelves in her office at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies include many volumes that she wrote or edited. The photos on the walls and tabletops reflect her two passions: China and family (and not necessar- ily in that order). Goldman credits the center's namesake, renowned China scholar John King Fairbank, with helping her launch her career. Married two weeks after she graduated from Sarah Lawrence ("those were the old days," she said with a laugh), she studied independently under Fairbank while her husband was serving in the military in Texas. When they returned to Massachusetts, she was pregnant with the first of their four children. She asked admissions at Radcliffe if she could study for her master's part-time. At first, Goldman couldn't get beyond a depart- ment secretary, who told her the college could not accept "professors' wives taking courses hither and thither." Hearing about her experience, Fairbank intervened. The Radcliffe dean then called Goldman into her office and said, "Okay my dear, we'll take a chance on you. John says you can do it. But if you don't finish we will not let others go part-time." Between changing diapers and chasing toddlers, Goldman earned a master's from Radcliffe ('57) and a doctorate from Harvard ('64). She also began making a name for herself as a scholar. Her five books an interview with merle goldman 58 W e l l e s l e y W e s t o n M a g a z i n e | s p r i n g 2 0 1 4 Merle and Marshall Goldman 056-065_WWMa14_face2face_v3_WWM_interview 2/1/14 3:45 PM Page 58