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Margaret Logan died on December 31, 2017, in hospice at her daughter’s home in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, after a day of sharing memories, quips, songs, and favorite tales with her family. Her wit and attentiveness remained keen nearly to the end, family said.
She was born to Margaret and Tracy Logan on March 31, 1936, in a hospital founded by her great-uncle in Huzhou, Zhejiang, China. Eighteen months later, the family moved from war-torn Shanghai to Long Island. Since conversation was Ms. Logan’s favorite sport, she had two responses ready when asked where she was from, a question particularly inevitable at parties in Southampton. To ward off a potential buttonholer, she would reply, “I grew up in Massapequa.” But if a rewarding conversation seemed in the offing, she’d say, “Oh, I was born in China.” Both statements were true, of course, for she sought and upheld the truth ferociously and fearlessly, even when it hurt, survivors said.
She was a 1953 graduate of Baldwin High School and of Westhampton College, University of Richmond, Virginia (Class of 1957), where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Ms. Logan was blessed with many talents and took pleasure in meeting challenging goals. Her son, James Ball, asked her recently what had brought her the most pleasure in life. “Writing,” she immediately responded. Her first published book, “Happy Endings” (1979), gained her much acclaim and many fans. Written in her signature prose, lean and lovingly wrought, “Happy Endings” recounts the musings, adventures, and conflicts of an epic bicycle trip Ms. Logan took in 1976 with her 17-year-old daughter, Tracy Ball, cycling from Paris to Rome, successfully crossing the Alps at the Simplon Pass. Ms. Logan lives on in that book as she does in the mysteries she subsequently wrote, having found in that genre of fiction an ideal vehicle for sharing her trenchant observations of trends and her sharp ear for dialogue. Between 1988 (“Deathampton Summer”) and 1994 (“Never Let a Stranger In Your House”), five of her mysteries were published.
Ms. Logan raised her two children in the Boston area and taught English and writing at Boston University. She wrote articles about her bicycle travels in Europe for the Boston Globe and The New York Times. After her children were grown, she moved back to Long Island with Charles Coulter, her husband, settling in Southampton, where his family had summered. She and Mr. Coulter devoted their prodigious energy and expertise to stemming the tide of commercial development, aiming to protect year-round residents from its ravages. Ms. Logan wrote a biweekly column, “Local Slant,” for The Southampton Press; Mr. Coulter served on The Village Planning Board and The Southampton Association. From 2000 to 2003, Ms. Logan served on the board of the Madoo Conservancy in Sagaponack. Taking inspiration from Robert Dash’s visionary gardens at Madoo, Ms. Logan teamed up with Mr. Coulter to design and create glorious landscaping and a productive vegetable garden surrounding their house. Sadly, the lovely landscape and garden were victims of Southampton’s current trend: new owners tearing down a modest house they’ve purchased and building an enormous house in its stead. In 2014 Ms. Logan and Mr. Coulter moved to Manhattan and then to suburban Philadelphia to be close to her daughter, Tracy Ball Greer and her husband, Dr. William Greer.
Ms. Logan and Mr. Coulter energetically and generously supported the growth of their congregation in Bridgehampton, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork. When they moved to Pennsylvania, they joined the Main Line Unitarian Church, where a memorial service will be held on February 24, 2018. Mr. Coulter predeceased Ms. Logan by 18 months.
Ms. Logan is survived by her children, James and Tracy; her grandchildren, Logan and Alexander Greer; three siblings, Tracy Logan, John Logan and Elsa Logan Townsend; and her three nieces and her nephew.
on Jan 29, 2018