The son of Sidney Beck and Ruthe (née Spero) Maisel, he was born into a prominent Jewish family in Buffalo.
[4] In 1971, Maisel was hired as an assistant professor by Colby College's department of government, and he would teach there for most of the following fifty years.
[6] Continuing his political activism in his new home state, Maisel served as a delegate to the 1972 and 1976 Democratic National Conventions.
[7][8] He also worked on the 1972 senate campaign of William Hathaway, in which he defeated longterm incumbent Margaret Chase Smith.
[3][14][15][16] Maisel retired from teaching in 2021, and in 2024, he led a $3.7 million capital campaign for the Beth Israel Congregation in Waterville.