John Mark Sullivan

Mark was born on December 2, 1951, in Portsmouth, Virginia, the younger of two boys, to Charles and Mildred Downey Sullivan. He attended Woodrow Wilson High School, where he displayed his early trivia precocity as a member of the High School Quiz Bowl team. He continued to display his prowess at Old Dominion University, where his team was next in line in 1971 to compete on the nationally-televised GE College Bowl before the show was abruptly canceled.

Upon graduation, Mark went to work in Washington, D.C. At the National Wildlife Federation he was given an assignment to produce a report entitled “The Lincoln County Experience.” In the process, Mark fell in love with Maine, and moved here permanently. In the 1980s, he worked for the State Planning Office and then the Department of Conservation. Mark played a pivotal role in passing a landmark rivers protection law and in formulating the Land for Maine’s Future Program. Then-Conservation Commissioner Dick Anderson recalls Mark walking into his office with a draft bill and saying “I’m not sure what to call this program. For the time being, I’ve titled it the ‘Land for Maine’s Future.’” The bill went on to pass largely as drafted, the name never changed, and since 1987 the Land for Maine’s Future program has protected 630,000 acres of waterfront, farm, and forest land for public use and benefit.

Mark continued his conservation work in a variety of roles in the next twenty years – consulting with Alec Giffen, working with the Metropolitan Planning Council in Boston, leading the Western Mountains Alliance, and writing a regular column for the Maine Times.

Mark took a turn towards politics when he was the policy director for Dick Barringer’s unsuccessful campaign for governor in 1994. Two years later Mark signed on with Tom Allen in his successful campaign for Congress, and stayed by Tom’s side as his spokesperson for the next twelve years. Tom recalls him fondly as “a big man with a big heart and a relentless work ethic. Mark was curious and engaged, and kind and helpful to less experienced staffers.”

Mark used his political skills to promote the cause of marriage equality for gay people. This was personal to Mark, as a gay person who had come out only in his mid-thirties. Mark was the spokesperson for the effort opposing the 2009 referendum that repealed Maine’s marriage equality law. He also worked hard to support the 2012 referendum that reinstated marriage equality in Maine for good.

Mark served as the Finance Committee Chair on Hallowell City Council for four years starting in 2012. There he hosted a first-time joint meeting of the school board and City Council to discuss budget issues.

Mark’s final act of public service was to serve as Communications Director for the Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP) from 2010 until his retirement in 2016. Jody Harris remembers Mark as the “voice of MECEP,” and shepherding the organization into the social media age. Under Mark’s firm editorial pen, staff learned to write every sentence in the active, not passive, voice.

In between his public service, Mark was an entertainer, storyteller, and wit. His Old Hallowell Day parties were legendary. The only social events where people were unhappy to see him were trivia nights at the local bars in Hallowell and Gardiner; his presence meant no one else could win. Mark’s knowledge of old movies and history and literature and Maine politics was unsurpassed.

Mark moved into Granite Hill Estates two years ago and made an immediate impact. One member of his writing group, Barb Frey, recalled that Mark had “a special being and a warmth and caring that permeated and vibrated others’ lives, even if touchingly briefly…”

Mark is predeceased by his parents, Charlie and Millie Sullivan, and his brother Charlie Sullivan. He is survived by nephew Matthew and niece Amanda Sullivan. He also leaves behind a rich assembly of friends – from long-time friend Rita Warner, who consulted with Mark almost every night by phone from Minnesota as they watched televised Jeopardy games together; to Claudia Glynn, Denise Lord, Jane O’Rourke, and dozens of others. Mark had a big heart and an empathic soul. We all lived in his love.

There will be a memorial for Mark in the spring. In lieu of flowers, people may remember Mark by giving a donation in his name to either the Hallowell Food Pantry (https://www.hallowellfoodpantry.org/donate) or the Hubbard Free Library (https://www.hubbardfree.org/products/donate).