About 60 people gathered Sunday night for a vigil on Wiscasset Common in memory of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Friday. Organizer Deborah Morgan said similar vigils were planned around Maine. Most attendees brought their own candles. Candles were also available. 

Terry Heller on keyboard and Leo Egan on guitar provided patriotic music, including “America the Beautiful,” “Amazing Grace,” “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and “Let There Be Peace on Earth.” Heller said, “I wanted to honor who RBG was – a clear and passionate voice for the best of what our country can be under the law, with equality and justice for all. So I played every patriotic song I could think of with that clear and passionate voice in mind. She was a real American’s American.”

Marty Fox read aloud the Kaddish, a mourning ritual in the Jewish faith, as Ginsburg was of the Jewish faith.

“I’m sad, she was a brilliant woman who fought so much for women, she brought so much into the foreground. I think of her like Fred Rogers, just one of a kind. There may never be another one like her, though I hope that’s not true,” said Egan’s wife, Betsy Kyle. She helped pass out candles.

The vigil lasted about a half hour with residents coming and going, some with children. “I’m pretty stunned,” said Morgan about Ginsburg’s death. “But I’m also happy to live in Wiscasset especially tonight.” She had first thought she might go to Portland to join a vigil there, but contacted Heller with the idea to host one in Wiscasset. She recalled having a graduate school professor who said, “‘Weep, wash your face, and get back to work,’ and that’s where I am today.”