ONLINE EXCLUSIVEPINK List Obits
Eleven Women We Lost – and What They Helped Us Find
By Taylor Mallory
In 2007, we lost many women whose names – and legacies – will live on. From the eldest daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., to a woman who opened the proverbial closet for generations of lesbians, to a real-life French superheroine, PINK remembers 11 fearless and inspirational women who changed the course of history.
Brooke Astor, 105
Selfless socialite who "had a wonderful life"
A high-society philanthropist, Astor spent almost $195 million on "the alleviation of human suffering," personally evaluating every group who sought her help. A trustee on many boards, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, she remained the honorary chairwoman of the New York Public Library until her death. Astor had been planning her funeral for more than a dozen years, creating a who's who guest list of more than 400 names – including attendees Mayor Michael Bloomberg, actress Whoopi Goldberg and banker David Rockefeller. Her chosen epitaph: "I had a wonderful life."
Lucie Aubrac, 94
World War II woman warrior
A World War II French Resistance heroine, Aubrac founded Libération-Sud – one of the first Resistance networks – with her husband Raymond, whom she rescued twice from the Gestapo. While pregnant, she led the only armed attack against Nazi police on the streets of France during the war. Aubrac, immortalized in the 1997 film Lucie Aubrac, received France's highest award, the Legion of Honor, for her contribution to the country's liberation. She remained a woman to be reckoned with even in her 80s, when she ran over a potential mugger with her shopping cart.
Liz Claiborne, 78
Fashion legend and environmental activist
Seeing the need for comfortable clothes for professional women, Claiborne founded Liz Claiborne Inc. in 1976 with $250,000, including $50,000 of her own savings. Sales skyrocketed to more than $2 million in the first year and hit $117 million in 1981, when she took the company public. Claiborne, who was a member of both the National Business Hall of Fame and the National Sales Hall of Fame, retired from active management in 1989. She used $10 million to found (with her husband) the Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation, which is dedicated to wilderness preservation.
Barbara Gittings, 75
Gay rights pioneer
Often referred to as the founding mother of the lesbian and gay rights movement, Gittings came out during the ultraconservative 1950s, when she formed the New York chapter of the first national organization for lesbians, Daughters of Bilitis. She served as president for three years and eventually became editor of its national magazine, The Ladder. Over the next few decades, she became a professional lobbyist – convincing the American Psychiatric Association to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder and the American Library Association to include gay literature.
Molly Ivins, 62
Satirist and political thought leader
A three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of the best-selling book Shrub: The Short But Happy Political Life of George W. Bush (Vintage Books, 2000), Ivins was known for her biting wit and political savvy. She called satire "the weapon of the powerless against the powerful" and fought for social change while crucifying many powerful figures – including Bush, whom she'd known since high school. "We are the people who run this country," she wrote in her last column. "Every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war."
Claudia Taylor "Lady Bird" Johnson, 94
The original first lady environmentalist
Not one to live in her husband's shadow, Lady Bird Johnson helped keep Lyndon Johnson's congressional office open during World War II when he volunteered for naval service. While he recovered from a heart attack in 1955, she kept his office running until he could return to his Senate majority leader post. When he became vice president, she visited 33 foreign countries as an ambassador. And after President Kennedy's assassination, she moved into the White House and created the First Lady's Committee for a More Beautiful Capital, which she eventually took national. A pioneer environmentalist, Johnson served as trustee emeritus on the National Geographic Society's board.
Beverly Sills, 78
Indefatigable ambassador for the arts
One of the most successful sopranos of the 20th century, Sills – who retired from her opera career in 1980 – will be remembered by most as a skilled fundraiser and powerful businesswoman. As general director of the New York City Opera from 1979 to 1989, she brought the company out of debt to a surplus of $3 million. And she personally raised $75 million for the Lincoln Center and added 20 new members (including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg) to its board, which she chaired from 1994 to 2002. She also chaired the Metropolitan Opera and the March of Dimes Foundation, for which she raised more than $80 million.
Yolanda King, 51
Second-generation civil rights crusader
The eldest child of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, Yolanda King – peace activist, lecturer, producer and actress – was born in Alabama two weeks before Rosa Parks triggered the civil rights movement that would be the backdrop for her life. She founded several production companies, including the performing arts group Nucleus (with Attallah Shabazz, Malcom X's eldest daughter) and Higher Ground Productions, which produced her one-woman, 16-character multimedia production, Tracks, celebrating Dr. King's philosophy.
Carolyn Goodman, 91
Bereaved mother turned civil rights torchbearer
The mother of one of three civil rights workers killed by the Ku Klux Klan in the 1964 case depicted in Mississippi Burning, Goodman lived to testify in the 2005 trial of Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen, who was finally convicted of her son's death in 2005. But that is only the beginning of her legacy. She started the Andrew Goodman Foundation to support a variety of social causes, participated in multiple anti-war and civil rights demonstrations, taught clinical psychology, and developed and ran the PACE Family Treatment Center, a program at the Bronx Psychiatric Center for emotionally disturbed mothers of young children.
Kate Webb, 64
Fearless front-line journalist
The foreign correspondent who covered conflicts over the past 35 years (including Vietnam and the first Gulf War) read her own New York Times obituary in 1971, when she was captured and held prisoner by the North Vietnamese for 23 days and thought dead by the world. The soft-spoken New Zealander was known for her stirring front-line reporting and empathetic accounts of war's innocent bystanders. An oddity among the almost all-male press corps and military, she once said, "If you don't make a thing out of being female, don't demand special privileges … you have no problems."
Zakia Zaki, 35
Outspoken Afghan activist
Afghan journalist and Peace Radio owner Zakia Zaki, who was shot seven times as she slept beside her 20-month-old son, was one of few women to publicly criticize the Taliban – a dangerous act for any journalist. President Hamid Karzai, whose administration condemned Zaki's murder, has encouraged women to enter business and politics, reserving one-quarter of parliamentary seats for them. But violence against women has increased in Afghanistan as many men – some still associated with the Taliban – resent being criticized by brave women like Zaki.
