Born in Nashua, Maggi Blanche Parker ’48 taught in New Hampshire and on Cape Cod after receiving her degree in education from what was then Keene Teachers College. But soon the big world beckoned, and the Air Force hired her to run schools in Japan and then in Madrid, Spain, and Mallorca. After that, she married and moved to Hawaii in 1964, where she co-founded the Parker-Ames Center in Honolulu, which offered psychological and educational services to emotionally disturbed children and young adults.

She also pursued her love of acting. “Love of the theater made me a good teacher.” she claimed. She excelled in both careers, landing the role of May, a secretary to Detective Lieutenant Steve McGarrett (played by Jack Lord), in the popular Hawaii-Five-O television series. She also appeared in the TV show I Dream of Jeannie; several movies, including I Sailed to Tahiti with an All-Girl Crew, Hawaii, and Paradise Hawaiian Style; and other television and radio spots.

She continues to travel the world, and her itinerary still includes New Hampshire and Keene State—she says she was last on campus in 2008.

Read more about her in Cow Hampshire: New Hampshire’s History Blog.