Maya Miller, Philanthropist championed progressive causes; ran against Harry Reid for US Senate
deb...@comcast.net
June 1, 2006 03:08 PM PDT
Maya Miller, a philanthropist who championed women's rights along with
many environmental, liberal and progressive causes for decades, died
Wednesday at her Washoe Valley ranch home. She was 90.
Miller had been in failing health for several months, and her condition
had worsened as a result of a fall in early May.
Miller lived simply at her ranch, donating millions of dollars of her
inherited wealth to both state- and national-level groups. Her home was
a gathering spot for many activists who looked to her for advice and
support.
"She had compassion for everyone, especially for the people who have it
the roughest - women and children," said her daughter, Kit Miller.
"They were her No. 1 priority."
"She was so openhearted and would give everyone a chance - but she had
a very hard, fighting side and the good old boys' network really rubbed
her the wrong way."
Miller's activism won her a spot on then-President Nixon's "enemies
list" during the Vietnam War era. A board member of the national League
of Women Voters, she resigned when the league voted down an anti-war
resolution in 1969.
Miller also was a founder of the Washington, D.C.-based Women's
Campaign Fund and an early backer of Emily's List, which supports women
candidates in national races.
A candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1974, Miller lost in the primary to
now-U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. In later years,
Kit Miller said Reid would contact her mother to discuss issues and
seek her support.
In 1991, in her mid-70s, Miller and several other women involved in the
group Madre broke a U.S. embargo and trucked about $100,000 worth of
medicine and food to Iraqi women and children. She helped to drive one
of the trucks from Jordan into Baghdad.
A world traveler, Miller also was active in Quaker circles, Global
Exchange, Ms. Foundation and national and state welfare rights efforts.
At the Nevada Legislature in 1971, Miller lobbied for welfare mothers
and her angry outburst over some lawmakers' rudeness to the women
resulted in security officers ousting her from the building.
Other Nevada efforts included a key role in helping to create Sand
Harbor at Lake Tahoe as a state park, and startup support for groups
such as the Committee to Aid Abused Women, Citizens Alert, Progressive
Leadership Alliance of Nevada and the Nevada Women's Fund.
She also opposed federal plans for a nuclear waste dump in Nevada,
started an environmental camp at her ranch, was active in human and
civil rights efforts in this country and in South and Central America.
Miller was raised in Southern California and moved to Nevada in the
early 1950s. She had a master's degree in English literature from
Cornell and did doctoral work at Stanford.
A memorial service is planned later this summer.