Martha Hart Newlon

I have known Martha only a short time here at the Fountains but feel that we had a special connection.  She used to mention this to me often.  What a dear soul she is.  As the Quakers say,  " I will be holding her in the light."  

     I met Martha in 1976, when I went with my mother to your house in Sedgley Farms to yoga classes in your basement. My mother dropped out of yoga, but I continued off and on for ten years. In 1987, Martha invited me to come to the ALL classes to see her yoga class there. I had mentioned to her that I thought I might like to teach yoga. At the end of that class, Martha pointed to me in the back of the room and announced to the students, " I would like you to meet Margaret Gilday. She will be teaching the summer yoga classes in the squash courts ."  I nearly had a stroke, as the announcement was unexpected and I had no training what so ever.
     That bold move on her part, started me on a path of self-discovery and self-fulfillment. She saw something in me I didn't know I had! I got training from the Himalayan Institute and many other workshops. I have been teaching for 27years. Jay and I became friends even before I joined the Academy. We had a lot of the same philosophical views concerning yoga. Martha had left teaching yoga to spend time with her music. I miss Jay still and I have kept in touch with Martha usually at this time of year. I will miss her also, especially because of the tremendous influence she had on me.
     Would you let her know that I am thinking of her and praying for her. Let her know, also, that I have replaced Jay as the person who sets up winter and summer yoga classes for the Osher ( no longer called the Academy) Institute, get out release forms for the teachers as well as try to find new teachers when someone retires. The classes are going well and I know that Martha was instrumental in getting them started years ago.
     She is truly an amazing person and I am honored that she was placed in my life.

Martha, you have been and remain an inspiration to me. Your boundless energy, willingness to continually learn and your constant thoughtfulness in regards to everyone will always serve as a guide to me in my life. I am thankful to know you my thoughts are with you. 

Paul

The special friendship I have treasured with Martha over these many years began with our children at GreenvilleSchool and grew and flourished through my job at U of D Division of Continuing Education when I started ALL, which in recent years has become Osher.  She and Jay became mainstays almost immediately and carried on the most successful of its many excellent programs, yoga and band, as long as they were there. I left Continuing Education to get my clinical social work degree and a different career which I loved but knew that with their involvement and enthusiasm it was in the best hands possible no matter who was nominally in charge.  This was true of many of the best aspects of Delawarelife as our generation has known it and I am so grateful for Martha as a treasure in my life.  Give her my love, as she will always be in my heart, and my unending gratitude for her friendship and inspiration.     Nancy Aldrich

Martha is/was one of the liveliest people that I have known. She was really full of life when I knew her inWilmington. I can still see her doing yoga (headstands) in thePhiladelphiaairport waiting lounge while waiting to board the plane to take the band to England!

I am keeping her in my thoughts.

Martha's friend, Alma Quigley