Margot Adler
A public radio voice for decades, she also authored the defining book that brought modern Paganism out of the shadows and into the American mainstream.
1946–2014 (age 68)·American journalist·Birthday: April 16·Baby Boomers
Biography
Margot Adler's life was a study in weaving together the seen and unseen worlds. Born in 1946, she built a formidable career in journalism, becoming a trusted correspondent and later bureau chief for NPR in New York. For 35 years, her incisive reporting and distinctive voice were fixtures on 'All Things Considered' and 'Morning Edition,' covering stories from the political to the profoundly human. Parallel to this public life ran a deep, personal spiritual quest. In the 1970s, she immersed herself in Wicca, eventually becoming a high priestess. Her 1979 book, 'Drawing Down the Moon,' was a groundbreaking piece of reportage that documented the burgeoning Neopagan movement with empathy and intellectual rigor, offering both a handbook and a legitimizing force for a misunderstood community. Adler never saw a contradiction between her roles as skeptical journalist and spiritual practitioner; she brought the same searching curiosity to both. She passed away in 2014, leaving a legacy as a bridge between mainstream media and alternative spiritualities.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Margot was born in 1946, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Margot Was Born
The biggest hits of 1946
#1 Movie
The Best Years of Our Lives
Best Picture
The Best Years of Our Lives
Margot's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1946Born
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
1951Started school
First color TV broadcast in the US
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Too Young" — Nat King ColeBest Picture: An American in Paris
1959Became a teenager
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1962Could drive
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1964Could vote
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1967Turned 21
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1976Turned 30
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1986Turned 40
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1996Turned 50
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2006Turned 60
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
2014Died at 68
Russia annexes Crimea; Ebola outbreak in West Africa
Gas: $3.37/galHome: $160,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Happy" — Pharrell WilliamsBest Picture: Birdman
Key Achievements
- Served as a correspondent and New York bureau chief for National Public Radio for 35 years, contributing to flagship programs like 'All Things Considered.'
- Authored 'Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America,' the seminal 1979 survey that defined the study of modern Paganism.
- Was initiated as a high priestess in the Gardnerian tradition of Wicca, actively practicing and teaching within the Pagan community.
- Her journalistic work earned her several awards, including a 1999 Newswomen's Club of New York Front Page Award.
Did You Know?
She was the granddaughter of the influential psychiatrist and Alfred Adler, founder of the school of individual psychology.
Adler narrated the audiobook version of J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.'
She was a lifelong fan of vampire lore and authored a book on the subject titled 'Vampires Are Us: Understanding Our Love Affair with the Immortal Dark Side.'
“Ritual is the way you carry the presence of the sacred. Ritual is the spark that must not go out.”
