Beyond the Dais: Maggie Ullman’s childhood obsessions with Pee-Wee Herman and the outdoors

LARGE MARGE: As a child, Asheville City Council member Maggie Ullman says she was obsessed with quoting Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. Photo courtesy of Ullman

As part of Xpress’ annual Kids Issue series, we reached out to the members of Asheville City Council and the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners to share their childhood recollections. Not all elected officials were available.

Below is our conversation with Council member Maggie Ullman.

Xpress: Most people have at least one story their family and relatives can’t help but retell at reunions and/or holiday gatherings. What is the quintessential story from your childhood that you can’t seem to escape at these types of gatherings?
Ullman:  Four-year-old me was forever quoting Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. It was my favorite movie, and the big, burly trucker saying, “Tell ’em Large Marge sent ya,” had me in hysterics. I was Maggie, after all, so tying in the whole name thing was just so funny to me. That story gets told all the time by members of my family. I was the youngest of three girls, and I looked up to my sisters so much. Keeping up with them was serious business — even when I was being ridiculous.
How would you describe yourself as a teenager? And how do you think your former teenage self would have reacted to learning you ended up serving as an elected official? 
I was way more focused on activism, specifically the environment, than on my studies. Looking back, I’m superproud that my passion for the environment never left me. I think teenage Maggie would be gobsmacked if she met me now. She’d see that all of those ideals she had in her youth were capable of coming to fruition with fine-tuning and focus. She’d see that all of those hopes she had for a better world could, in fact, come true — even if they were in small doses. She’d also be shocked to know that I own a set of pearls, though; so maybe we shouldn’t tell her.
The young people in our community have been through a lot since COVID and Helene. What is your top concern for our area youths, and what influence do local officials have to address it?
This is a tough one to answer from a governmental standpoint, as our Asheville City Schools don’t fall under city government. But as a mom and a human being, this is easy — mental health. I can’t imagine what all the changes in the world are doing to our young people. The anxiety, the stress, the worry — it must be so incredibly hard to keep all those thoughts and feelings as balanced as possible. I hope that my influence allows young people to know I’ll always be someone they can talk to; that I’ll always do right by them in ensuring they have the best resources at their disposal to be able to take on life’s many, many challenges.
Lightning round: As a child, what was your favorite …
  1. Book: The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss
  2. Album: Paul Simon’s Graceland
  3. TV show: “The Simpsons”
  4. Movie:  The Goonies
  5. Publication (magazine or newspaper): Highlights for Kids
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About Thomas Calder
Thomas Calder received his MFA in Fiction from the University of Houston's Creative Writing Program. His writing has appeared in Gulf Coast, the Miracle Monocle, Juked and elsewhere. His debut novel, The Wind Under the Door, is now available.

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