Anyda Marchant 1911-2006
Anyda Marchant, 94, a retired attorney, novelist and publisher died January 11 at home in Rehoboth Beach, DE.
Ms. Marchant was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, moving with her family to Washington, DC, at age six. After earning her undergraduate degree and, in 1933, her law degree from what is now George Washington University, she was admitted to practice in DC and Virginia, before the U.S. Court of Claims and the U.S. Supreme Court. As a law student, she served as an assistant to women’s rights pioneer Alice Paul, who was then doing the first research for an Equal Rights Amendment.
In l940 Marchant was appointed assistant in the Law Library of Congress, Latin American Law section. When the man heading that department was drafted, Marchant was appointed in his place. When he returned in 1945, she relinquished the post, but declined a lesser offered position, on principle.
She returned to Rio to work, then did a brief stint as a translator at the 1948 Pan American Union Conference in Bogota, Columbia. From there she returned to Washington as one of the first female attorneys with the law firm now known as Covington and Burling. She served briefly in private practice and with the U.S. Commerce Dept. before moving to the legal department of the World Bank where she worked for 18 years until her 1972 retirement.
That same year, Marchant and her life partner Muriel Crawford founded the Naiad Press as a vehicle for publishing Marchant’s first novel, The Latecomer, written under the pen name Sarah Aldridge. In 1974, Naiad was formally incorporated in Delaware, proceeding to publish 11 Sarah Aldridge novels, a wide selection of other feminist and lesbian literature and becoming a powerhouse in feminist publishing. Marchant served as Naiad’s president from its inception until the mid 1990’s.
In 1995 Marchant and Crawford withdrew from Naiad to found their own publishing company, A&M Books of Rehoboth Beach. A&M published the last three Sarah Aldridge novels (the latest in 2003), along with the book As I Lay Frying – a Rehoboth Beach Memoir by author Fay Jacobs. Passionate about supporting feminist writers, Marchant continued her publishing and mentoring activities until very recently, highlighted by the October 2005 release of the novel Celebrating Hotchclaw by feminist literary icon Ann Allen Shockley.
Marchant and Crawford began coming to Rehoboth Beach in 1955, purchasing a weekend home on Ann B Street in 1957. Upon retirement they moved to a home in downtown Rehoboth, which became the site of legendary Saturday evening salons, with cocktails, conversation and an amazingly diverse crowd—neighbors, clergy, writers, musicians, young and old, gay and straight—filling the spacious front porch. In the winter the salon would move to the couple’s Pompano Beach, Florida, home.
Among her many activities, Marchant recalls proudly organizing the very first National Organization for Women meeting in Delaware when she started a Rehoboth chapter.
Marchant is survived by Crawford, her partner of 57 years, as well as a large circle of loving friends.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, January 21, at 11:00 a.m. at All Saints Episcopal Church in Rehoboth. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Marchant’s name to CAMP Rehoboth, 37 Baltimore Avenue; Compassionate Care Hospice; All Saints Episcopal Church, Building Fund, 18 Olive Avenue (all located within Rehoboth Beach, Delaware) or the charity of choice.
Read full text of the eulogies delivered by friends Fay Jacobs and Tom Jones.
