Remembering My Mother on Her 94th Birthday

Today would have been my mother Aline’s 94th birthday. I took this photo in October 2000 in the dining room, a space I’ve kept much the same. I often sit in that chair for breakfast, thinking of her. She had an infectious smile and a deep love for music, dogs, and horses.

Aline was the daughter of Harvey A. Mayer, publisher of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Daily Review, and Aline Shakman Mayer Geirgerman, a painter. She was also the stepdaughter of Harold Geigerman, a textiles businessman. A talented soprano, she first attended Skidmore College before returning to Manhattan to study voice full-time. Many in the Berkshires will remember her classical music performances, her roles in local musicals, and her work as the head of music at Berkshire Country Day School in the late ’60s, where she specialized in the Orff Schulwerk method.

In 1980, she returned to school, earning a BA in Music (Summa Cum Laude) from the University of Hartford before completing an MSW at SUNY Albany. She then embarked on a second career as a social worker, working in the dialysis unit at Berkshire Medical Center and later in private practice alongside my father. Even in retirement, she remained deeply engaged in the arts, volunteering as a docent at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown.

Her mother, also named Aline, was an artist who studied at the Art Students League of New York. Many of her paintings still hang on our walls, as do works by her friends, including Yasuo Kuniyoshi (link - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasuo_Kuniyoshi ) and David Herron Morrison.

For over 20 years, my parents sponsored the Aline S. Geigerman Purchase Prize in Art at my alma mater, Mt. Greylock Regional High School. They died together after 71 years of marraige in 2022 and the school sustained the award for a year with community help.

Last fall, I reached out to the School Committee and Superintendant, where my father was a once served as member for 6 yers, 2 of of which as Chairman, to ensure the prize's continuation in both of their names. Given my mother’s legacy as a performer, we hope to expand the prize to include the performing arts. In addition to the cash award, I will also donate one of the remarkable art books from our family’s collection to the winner.

Honoring her today feels especially important. She left an incredible legacy in music, art, and community—one that I hope to continue in her memory.