Ginny Aronson’s talents read like a story some writer dreamt up. Trailblazing attorney. Ballroom dancer. Mind reader.
She was the first female managing partner at the law firm Sidley Austin, where she worked from 1975 to 2010.
And she and her husband Simon Aronson — also a Chicago lawyer — had a mind-reading act, performing at parties, magic conventions, corporate events, weddings and charity galas.
Their mind-reading routine once so unsettled a woman that she rushed to a bathroom and flushed her pearl necklace down a toilet. The woman and everyone else at the small party had been asked by Simon Aronson to retrieve any object from a pocket or purse and hold it up and picture it in their heads so his blindfolded wife could read their minds and identify the objects.
Mrs. Aronson had identified lipstick, coins, glasses and later, for the finale, even ticked of the serial number of a $10 bill that was held aloft. But not the necklace.
“I’m not getting anything,” she said and moved on.
The woman with the pearl necklace panicked, worried the cause of the psychic blockage might be that it was hexed. So she rushed to the toilet and flushed it.
It turned out that, before the show, the Aronsons had decided that, to make their act seem more realistic, they’d pretend one object stumped her.
Mrs. Aronson died March 2 after a fall in which she hit her head, according to her family. She was 77.
She was attending the University of Chicago when she and her future husband, a fellow student, started dating. Simon Aronson performed as a magician and had a mind-reading act he performed with his ex-girlfriend to help cover his tuition.
Mrs. Aronson wasn’t keen on that. She learned the act to get the ex-girlfriend out of the picture.
“Sitting alone on Friday, Saturday nights while he’s out with his beautiful ex-girlfriend was sufficient incentive,” she once told the University of Chicago Magazine.
They called their show “It’s the Thought that Counts” and in 2013 made the cover of Genii magazine, a publication dedicated to magic.
Exactly how they did it remains a secret.
In her law career, Mrs. Aronson became a partner in 1983 and led Sidley’s real estate practice. In 1993, she became a member of the firm’s executive committee and, in 1998, was the first woman to join its management committee.
Mrs. Aronson was known for structuring real estate mega-deals and also oversaw construction of the firm’s current headquarters at 1 S. Dearborn St.
“She was an extremely talented lawyer, handling some of the most complex real estate transactions,” said Thomas A. Cole, a friend and retired Sidley partner who noted that Mrs. Aronson was one of only a small number of female attorneys there when she was hired.
Mrs. Aronson and her husband lived in a condo building in Lincoln Park overlooking the North Pond. They owned three of the four units on their floor, combining two into a living space and converting the third into a ballroom-dance space.
“They had one of the all-time views of the city and lakefront, and, with the sun going down and music playing and two of them alone on their dance floor, that, to me, is love,” said Joshua Jay, a friend and fellow magician.
Mrs. Aronson was a gourmet cook who’d invite clients over for dinner. She’d also offer them dance lessons.
“And when they’d find out about the mind-reading act, they were fascinated,” Mrs. Aronson said in an article posted online by her former firm. “Being a good, creative lawyer is critical, but being interesting and personable face-to-face adds another level to the relationship.”
The couple had an art collection that included works by Salvador Dali and Roy Lichtenstein.
After retiring in 2010, Mrs. Aronson kept performing with her husband until his death in 2019.
“They just did it on the side for fun,” said Matt Baker, a friend, fellow magician and math professor. “They didn’t need the money, but they became known around the world for it.”
Mrs. Aronson was born June 4, 1947, in Bremerton, Washington, to Joseph and Louise Cook. Her father worked at a shipyard. Her mother was a homemaker.
She got a scholarship to the University of Chicago through a program for promising young scholars in rural areas. She got bachelor’s and master’s degrees there in sociology and her law degree.
“She was very proud of the fact that she came from quite humble beginnings and was able to get to that level of professional success and be a trailblazer and set a good example for other women,” Baker said.
Donations from the couple supported the University of Chicago Law School, medical research, a yearly party to help students find a break from academics and magic performances at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital.