John Maher, founder of the Delancey Street Foundation. Pacific Heights, San Francisco~1973

John Maher (1940 – December 3, 1988)[1] was an American former child alcoholic and heroin addict, who founded the Delancey Street Foundation, a nonprofit organization, in 1971. The organization, based in San Francisco, provides residential rehabilitation services and vocational training for substance abusers and convicted criminals.

As co-president of the organization from 1972 to 1984, Maher rose to national prominence as the subject of two books (John Maher of Delancey Street by Grover Sales and Sane Asylum; Inside the Delancey Street Foundation by Charles Hampden-Turner), a TV movie (1975's Delancey Street: The Crisis Within), and news media coverage (including a 1974 60 Minutes segment, "Love Thy Neighbor").[2][3] He was also active in San Francisco politics, helping to elect his younger brother, Bill Maher, to the San Francisco Board of Education, and later the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.[3]

In 1988, Maher died at the home of his mother, Marie Maher, in his native New York City after suffering from pneumonia. Mass was said at St. Gregory the Great Church.[4]

Personal life

Maher was originally from the Bronx, New York, and he dropped out of school in the eighth grade.[5]

He was a partner of Mimi Silbert for many years.[5]

Media

  • John Maher of Delancey Street by Grover Sales
  • Sane Asylum; Inside the Delancey Street Foundation by Charles Hampden-Turner
  • 60 Minutes, "Love Thy Neighbor" segment (1974)
  • Delancey Street: The Crisis Within (1975) TV movie

References

  1. ↑ "Deaths Elsewhere". Tampa Bay Times. December 6, 1988. p. 32. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  2. ↑ "John Maher, 48, Dies; Helped Drug Addicts". The New York Times. 4 December 1988. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  3. 1 2 Overend, William (4 December 1988). "John Maher; Founded Program for Addicts in San Francisco". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  4. ↑ "John Maher went home to die". The San Francisco Examiner. December 8, 1988. p. 4. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  5. 1 2 Lurie, Juliane (May 2020). "The Toughest Love". Mother Jones.
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