Nelson Rockefeller’s former aide uses self-penned obituary to hint at scandalous affair
Megan Marshack, journalist and aide to former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, has died in California at the age of 70.
After decades of silence, Marshack used a self-penned obituary to sensationally reveal new details about her ties to the former New York governor.
Although she neither confirms nor denies an affair, Marshack, who was in the middle of a firestorm of speculation about Rockefeller’s sudden death in 1979, dropped a stunning clue about their relationship.
She ends the obituary with a quote from a song from ‘A Chorus Line’: ‘… won’t forget, can’t regret what I did for love.’
Marshack died on October 2 of liver and kidney failure the self-written obituary posted by a funeral home in Sacramento, California. Her brother said she died at a live-in medical facility in Sacramento.
Meghan Marshack, an aide to former New York Governor and Vice President Nelson Rockefeller and with him when he died, has died in California at the age of 70.
After decades of silence, Marshack revealed a few tidbits about her interactions with Rockefeller in her obituary
The aide, who had a long and varied career in journalism, suddenly gained national attention after the four-term Republican governor collapsed and died of a heart attack on the night of January 26, 1979.
Varying accounts of the details of that night fueled suspicion about the death of the 70-year-old member of the wealthy Rockefeller family and the nature of his relationship with his 25-year-old investigator.
It was originally announced that Rockefeller died in his office in Rockefeller Center.
But a family spokesman later said Rockefeller had been working on an art book in his private offices elsewhere in Manhattan when he was struck.
There were also discrepancies with his time of death and who was with him. Marshack was not initially identified as being with him when he died.
Marshack kept quiet about what happened and became a “mystery woman” hounded by reporters.
She told reporters outside her brother’s apartment in California: “I’m sorry, I have nothing to say.”
Her continued silence earned her a spot on People magazine’s 1979 list of the 25 “Most Intriguing Personalities,” along with actor Meryl Streep and author Tom Wolfe.
The obituary, first reported by The New York Times, sheds no new light on the night of Rockefeller’s death or on the nature of their relationship outside of work.
Varying accounts of the details of that night fueled suspicion about the death of the 70-year-old member of the wealthy Rockefeller family and the nature of his relationship with his 25-year-old investigator
Marshack, who had a long and varied career in journalism, suddenly gained national attention after the four-term Republican governor collapsed and Gerald Ford’s vice president died of a heart attack on the night of January 26, 1979.
‘All I know is that they were very good friends. Other than that, I don’t know,” Jon Marshack said in a telephone interview Thursday. “She never talked to me about it, and I never worried.”
Jon Marshack believes his sister signed a non-disclosure agreement.
She was working for the AP as a radio reporter in 1975 when she tried to get Rockefeller’s attention at a news conference where he was answering questions in Spanish.
After addressing him as “Señor Vice Presidente” and arguing her case in Spanish, she switched to English to ask Rockefeller her question about New York City’s budget problems, prompting laughter from the room full of reporters.
According to the obituary, the two walked out of the room together.
Marshack served as assistant press secretary to the vice president in 1976, Rockefeller’s last year in public office, and continued to work for him when he returned to private life.
She remained his deputy press secretary, worked as director of his art collection and took on other duties, according to her obituary.
She returned to journalism after Rockefeller’s death, working at CBS’s news syndication unit before leaving New York, according to her obituary.
Marshack met her future husband, Edmond Madison Jacoby, Jr., in Placerville, California, when they both worked for a local newspaper.
They married in August 2003 at the county courthouse, where she handled legal proceedings. He died before her.
She is survived by her brother.