Norman Marks on Governance, Risk Management, and Internal Audit

This is the story of a lady who:

• Saw her parents lose their home and have to rely on relatives for shelter and for work.
• Was raised as a Jewish woman in pre-war North London at a time of rabid anti-Semitism.
  
  

  Maisie as a young woman

• Was sent north (“evacuated”) to live with a couple during the war, returning to London towards the end of the London Blitz.
• Joined a company as a secretary and ended up owning it!
• Was the chair of multiple non-profit professional and charitable organizations.
• Was the founding chair of an association for women in advertising.
• Was honored by the Queen with an MBE, presented at Buckingham Palace.
• Raised two boys: one is a renowned professor at Northwestern University, and the other is me.

Born Myra Maisie, but answering her whole life to Maisie, my mother is approaching her 98^th birthday. She is no longer able to teach ballroom dancing, as she did after she retired, but she has been able to share with me stories from her amazing, long, and successful life.

I feel privileged, not only to be her son but her biographer.

Meet my Mother, Mrs. Maisie Myra Marks, MBE is my tribute to a lovely lady, the story of her life.

She succeeded through a combination of hard work, perseverance, charm, and luck.

Delivering her report as chair of the London Publicity Club. Her husband is to her left and the Lord Mayor of London (and his wife) are to her right.

Chairing a dinner of the Croydon Advertising Association, with her husband on her right. His mother is standing behind Maisie, and I am in the middle at the back.

Outside Buckingham Palace after receiving her MBE.