Goodbye to Marge Meakins

Like the many pen pals around the world who were persuaded that Mark Ströman was a worthy individual, Marge had fought all the way to try to save her friend's life.

Her sudden death, occurring almost symbolically just after the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and a day before world peace day, may be a new opportunity to question the philosophical meaning behind Mark Ströman's execution.

During my time at Reprieve, I have been blessed to meet and interview a lot of extraordinary people with many extraordinary stories.

I have seen the tears in the eyes of the forgiving mother whose daughter had been murdered as I have seen the tears alike in the eyes of a begging mother whose son had killed two people. I have seen exonerated prisoners, who had been through various execution dates. Or lawyers who were blessed enough to have made the decisions to help save the lives of many people. I have met with unusual individuals who had gone through situations most of us would not survive. These extraordinary people include, Rais Bhuyian, the surviving Muslim victim of Mark Ströman, who asked the State of Texas to grant clemency to his attacker, his religion and his education both made him believe more in the power of compassion, forgiveness and healing – to no avail. Definitely, the list also includes Marge Meakins and her daughter Linda.

I will never forget the experience of filming Margaret Meakins, who had been writing to Mark Ströman since 2004. Back at the time, she was deeply depressed, as she had lost her husband, been moved into an old people's home, and had effectively given up the will to live. Her daughter Linda had tried everything she could to cheer her up, without success, when she was advised by her social carer (another of Mark's pen pal friends) to write to Mark Ströman. Without ever asking for anything in return, Mark corresponded with her for the next seven years, often writing twice a week, encouraging her and teasing her kindly in every letter, calling her "his little rose". Finally, Mark had managed to help her overcome her depression and she just had finally moved back into her own little home, when Mark was finally executed. As she was talking to me on the day I went to see her, there was a glimmer of hope in her eyes. The idea that she was given the opportunity to express herself in favor of her friend seemed to brighten her day. Mark's letters were putting a smile on her face every time she talked about them. . "I do not know what I will do if you execute him," she wrote later in a clemency letter, "you may as well take my life from me!". Sadly, this is exactly what happened: Within only a few weeks of Mark's execution, Marge Meakins died of a sudden massive heart attack.

Marge Meakin's touching friendship with Mark Ströman was not an isolated one. I will never forget all the other friends of Mark Ströman whether journalist, mother at home, devoted Christian, or religious Muslim. Some had suffered from racism, others were simply compassionate individuals. None of them were alike, yet all of them have been saying the same thing: How Mark Ströman had been making a difference in their lives, helping in some cases to relieve some acute pain, or simply changing their outlook on it. How Mark was "only caring about others, not himself." They also all said how truly and sincerely regretful of the hate crimes he had committed in the wake of 9/11. More important than everything, many expressed how much a difference he could make in the world by advocating on behalf of more unity and peace.

There is no certainty today that the State of Texas is any safer now that Mark Ströman has been executed, than it would have been if he had been kept alive. In fact, the opposite could be very well true: it is very possible, even probable that Mark Ströman could have positively contributed to more peace in the world by advocating on its behalf, and helping to change the mind of negatively-minded individuals (as he was himself back at the time that he committed his crimes). The power that some death row prisoners have to help heal people of their negative state of mind is largely ignored. No one, amongst those who didn't know Mark, seemed to have given much credit to the notion that he could be genuinely repented. Or that he could be of any help to anyone. Some have even alleged that his repentance was insincere, that he was only trying to save his own skin.

"I don't want to be like hate, I want to be like myself," he declared in a TV interview shortly before his execution. The truth is: Mark Ströman was no longer the hateful boasting individual he had once been . His story stands to show that people can change. His pen pals are there to prove it, and so is the apology letter he wrote to Rais, his victim.

The debate over Mark Ströman should not be over, nor should we stop questioning the reasons as to why a society choose to put the life of an individual to an end, when it seemed that he had so much more to give - if only given a chance.

"We have got to build alliances with one another. So many lives have been ruined in so many ways — the teasing, the bullying, the name-calling. Every single time you mention Muslims in a newspaper article, some of the comments are genocidal. Many of them flagrantly say ban all Muslims or kill all Muslims." stated recently (in the Washington Post) Anya Cordell, a Jewish American who received the Spirit of Anne Frank Outstanding Citizen Award. Anya Cordell says the negativity is not subsiding. "If anything, it's increased and become more a part of the air we breathe," she declared recently in a talk in Washington.

Could Rais Bhuiyan, the devoted and highly spiritual Muslim and Mark Ströman the repented hate crime attacker have been reunited, and fought together for more peace in the world?

We will never know for sure, as the opportunity is now gone. Mark Ströman is gone, and so is his pen pal Margaret Meakins. Rais is left alone to pursue his "world without hate" journey. They never had a chance to be properly reunited. This is all so very desperately sad.

As someone blessed enough to see so many fantastic people fight for Mark Ströman's life, whether his lawyers, his pen pals, his victims or their families, as well as many people around him, my only hope that Mark Ströman's last wish comes true: "Hate is going on in this world and it has to stop" he said in his final moments."Hate causes a lifetime of pain".

May Mark Ströman achieve in his death what he wasn't able to during his life time. Long lives his final plea for a more peaceful world.