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I'm so saddened to hear of Molly's death. A friend and a mentor she unselfishly taught "Feminist Activism" to anyone who was willing to listen. Molly never left a stone unturned and she never gave up. She had a razor-sharp, natural ability to identify discrimination and to act on it immediately.
All women owe a debt of thanks to Molly Yard for her personal devotion and unwavering sacrifice to make this a better world for all women.
Molly Yard, an inspiration, a firebrand, and a brilliant, outspoken activist for the 20th century. Thank you, Molly, for everything. We'll miss you and we won't disappoint you.
Regina Cowles
Boulder NOW
Molly Yard's passing has made me extremely sad. It was only two days before her passing that I mentioned her name in an email to my NOW NYS State Council. It went like this: "I remember the first time I became aware of NOW. I saw Molly Yard and other feminists leaders on a TV show and I remember how the hair stood up on the back of my neck when I heard Molly say "Women are not gong to take it anymore!" I have repeated that phrase over and over again in the past 16 years. I became active in NOW in 1991. It was towards the end of Molly's term. I would have loved to have met her. Her words are still ringing in my ears all these years later.
I can't help but think that Molly's words came to me at this special time to encourage me as a leader in NOW. I am sure, as she looks down at us from her place with all the feminists that have gone before her, she weeps with the thought that we could possibly lose Roe, but she knows that we will stand strong, as we have done in the past. Leaders in NOW can do nothing less. For Molly and all the wonderful women who have gone before her, we must continue the revolution.
Molly, I will hear your words in my head until I see you again.
Marcia A.Pappas
President of NOW NYS
Thank you for your relentless work to secure equal rights and oppurtunities for women. May we never stop fighting for what is rightfully ours. God bless.
Dizem
Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia
Molly was president of NOW when I first got involved. That booming voice, that in-your-face attitude, that I don't care what you think of me, I'm saying what needs to be said presence. She inspired me to stop saying "somebody needs to do something", and start doing something. Here's to Molly!
Cindy Howard
Indianapolis, IN
My condolences to all of Molly's family and friends. I first heard Molly speak at the 1988 NOW conference. I vividly remember her working the crowd for the PAC fundraiser. Prior to her taking the microphone, the PAC fundraiser was going a bit slow. Afterwords, money seemed to be coming in faster than the volunteers could grab the forms and checks. I subsequently saw and was inspired by her passion and ability to pursuade those who weren't so passionate (or even somewhat hostile) and to get others off their seats and working for women's and civil rights.
Molly ENCOURAGED (hear her booming voice!) everyone to take action and to stand up for our rights in all aspects of our lives. If there is another realm beyond, I believe that she's still urging us on with her indomitable spirit.
Go Molly!
Joanne Tosti-Vasey
Bellefonte, PA
The first time I heard Molly speak at a NOW conference, I was overwhelmed with how she could whip up a roomful of women to a fever pitch. I loved it. In those moments I felt like part of a powerful force. That feeling of power has kept me involeved with NOW all these years. I loved how she stood up to the questioners in Senate hearings, even when someone on the committee resorted to vicious name calling. Molly always made me proud to be a part of NOW. I have missed her since she became ill and will miss her still.
MOL LY MOL LY MOL LY
What a wonderful sound that was. Thank you Molly, forever.
Judy Russell
North Chili, NY
Keep on moving on. A good leader, believer and a wonderful role model for us all. Always had a plan. Extraordinary energy and always had an extra bed for we out of town activists. I've missed her. Wish I could have run for NOW pres in my 70s. Daunting!
Judith Meuli
Valley Village, CA
There was no one more passionate, more fierce, no one who worked harder for women. I always thought that Molly and Susan B. Anthony would have been well-matched!
You can't wish Molly peace. You have to wish her a happy fight. But may we say "well done," Molly?
Glenda Bailey-Mershon
St. Augustine, FL
Molly Yard was one of NOW's greatest leaders. She was kind and sensitive but also very tough. She worked relentlessly. She was a gifted orator. Few political leaders have had the talent to convice and inspire in a way that Molly did by simply giving a speech. I am grateful to have known her.
Virginia Smith Watkins
Minnetonka, MN
Former NOW National Board Member
Thank you for standing up for me. Thank you for caring about women. Thank you for your dedication to women. I could not do what I do today if it were not for women like you. I honor your time on this planet.
Melinda Tremaglio
President, Palm Springs NOW
Molly Yard was a trooper of the first magnitude. She brought passion and wisdom and dignity to the role of National NOW President. When she stepped out of limousine and walked into City Hall of Tallahassee, Florida, on a hastily rolled-out red carpet for a town meeting on reproductive rights, the air was electric. My daughter, then 2, and I met her and escorted her inside. I was president of Tallahassee NOW then. She and then-Vice President Patricia Ireland were on a multi-city Caravan for Women's Lives. Molly touched many lives for the better. Her idealism and hard work are inspirations to all of us who will continue where she left off. You are a blessing. Molly. Goddess bless you.
Linda Miklowitz
Tallahassee, FL
What a great human. I'm glad I was able to spend time with her in Chicago and DC. Most of all I'll remeber our walks to the National NOW office in the mornings when I stayed with her. She was such a JEM.
Tom Church
Chicago IL
Ever since I worked at the NOW Action Center when Molly was NOW President, I have said that if you lined up everyone who ever lived or died and allowed me to pick out my parents, I'd pick Molly Yard for both. I love and respect her. Sleep well, Mom.
J R Russell
Lewisville, AR
I first saw Molly Yard at a NOW PAC fund-raiser at a national conference. She kept raising her voice, and she kept raising money. If Molly asked for money or help or wanted you to go to an event, you did as she asked. I had the privilege of serving on the National Board while she was President, and she also named me to the National PAC.
I was so proud of her at the 1989 March for Women's lives when over 600,000 people showed up. We organized a march for choice in Ohio as part of a state conference. She was the featured speaker and we had a huge turnout. At another rally in Washington, I escorted Molly to the stage area before she was to speak. A big deep voice called out "Hey there, Molly." Without turning around, she said to me, "Go tell Jesse (Jackson)I want to talk to him after I speak."
She was one of the most powerful and impressive women I have ever known. We shared a passion for the ERA and for Title IX. I never cease to be amazed that I knew someone who knew Eleanor Roosevelt. It was an honor to serve her. I respected her for her unwavering tireless energy, and I loved her for her total commitment to justice for women. I will miss her presence, but her spirit will be with me always.
Jackie Hillyer
Ashtabula, OH
I was involved in the Florida ERA Campaign and lived in Tallahassee for some time. When I returned to Washington, DC in October, 1982, dead broke and emotionally and physically exhausted, Molly and her husband Sylvester Garrett, offered me a place to live with them in Southwest DC. Thus began a wonderful year of getting to know Molly and Syl really well and to this day conjures up warm and happy memories.
Molly at home was peaceful and serene - she loved classical music and the New York Times. Sylvester Garrett was one of the most gentle and kind men I have ever known. Having taught law at Stanford, he had become nationally known as a brilliant arbitration lawyer. When Molly became NOW president, Syl was so proud and he was happy to live quietly in the background and let her shine. He was her biggest cheerleader and #1 fan. He realized that her whole life's work inevitably led her to the NOW leadership. He was her true soulmate - they worked for the same causes all of their lives. I consider that year in my life as one of the best. Molly and Syl made me feel like one of their family and I felt the same way about them. They will never be forgotten and always loved by me.
Lillian T Ciarrochi
Philadelphia, PA
One of my warm memories of being with Molly was actually in New Orleans .It was the year that we held our National Conference in that extraordinary city. And as those of us who have attended NOW conferences remember, this was one of the "hot" ones.We were having a passionate election with spirited candidates.And the vote was close.In fact we had to revote.
Molly and I left the conference hotel to go to dinner at oue of the great restaurants, and it was 1:00am . As we enjoyed our meal, a " runner" from the conference entered the restaurent. She told us that we must return to the comference immediately and vote again. We did, and the candidates that we supported won. I shall never forget the wonderful city of New Orleans and the wonderful Molly Yard.
Gloria Johnson
San Diego CA
How wonderful to know that a strong and clear-thinking patriot like Molly Yard came from my politically embattled state of Pennsylvania.
To all women of Pennsylvania -- stand up and be counted for women's rights! We know what we need to do!
Annette Seidenglanz
Malvern, PA
Wow! My heart just sank after hearing of Molly Yard's passing. She had a commanding presence and a booming voice. The first time I saw her on television, I was a college student and I just loved this old woman on television fighting for women's rights. I was hooked. She legitimized my feelings for feminism. I had the priviledge of meeting her & she stated in her speech that women everywhere should be like the Nike commercial & "Just Do It!" In remembering her speech and her life, I am recommitted. We should honor her and "Just Do It!"
Stacy Saladino Leikam
Lutz, FL
Molly was a strong leader from the heart of all women. Her contributions to womens rights and to society in general was in great need. She is in Heaven now but she will be missed.
Christina Smith
OK
I was an action coordinator for a NOW Chapter in Orange County, CA. in 1990/91. We had exhausted ourselves with small and large actions including clinic defense, baricading Pro-Lifers to prevent them from leaving their church for a large rally, confronting Bob Dornan (the devil in my eyes) more than once, giving interviews on the street to a well funded Pro-Life TV station about heaven and hell (what hell ?) and attending a large Pro-Choice Rally in L.A. We had run out of gas. All of us had jobs to go to. We voted for a couple that was relatively new to the Chapter to run us, hoping for new energy, hoping to attract new people with staying power. Instead, before we knew it, the attempt was made to have our Chapter declared inactive quoting our Bylaws.
We wrote to Molly asking for help to stop this process. Molly Yard left a voice mail on my home phone that I had to play over and over. She took us very seriously and got the California NOW leadership involved and they came for a meeting. The Chapter was saved.
Work took over completely for me personally but months later I did attend a demonstration in front of the Newport Beach Police Dept that had been organized by new Chapter members, younger women now but just as determined as us.
Sylia Zirlik-Parker
Placerville, CA
As a younger woman I am so thankful for Ms. Yard's work. I enjoy the fruits of her labor today. Without women like her, I would not have many of the rights I take for granted. Thank you Molly Yard.
Leah Foster
Brooklyn, NY
I met Molly in 1980 when she was a staff member for natl.NOW and I was president of NC-NOW. she came to NC to work for candidates in our General Assembly who supported the ERA. she spent all day from early morning until dinner time making personnel visits and telephone contact with both prominent and not so prominent people.Everyone seemed to be important to her. In the evenings when she felt it was too late to call anyone else,when I expected her to collapse with exhaustion, she insisted that we chat. I was impressed by her desire to make the world a better place, not just for women, but for all people.She was a wise, caring and wonderful woman. She will certainly be missed.
Miriam K. Slifkin
Chapel Hill, NC
Brava, Molly! It was an honor to be a NOW member and activist in your time. Your rousing speeches and voice that needed no microphone remain in my memory.
Jaqi Asghedom
Richmond, Ca
Molly Yard inspired us all during difficult years. Her name is synonymous with a period to time in women's history, the third term of the Reagan-Bush administration. I hope my daughter will learn of Molly Yard in her women's history courses in high school and college. Like an earlier Molly - she stands as a moral leader as well as an extraordinarily tenacious opponent who understood that victory is one heart by heart, one mind at a time. I would hope that in her honor, further expansions of women's rights may be won legislatively if not in the courts.
Margaret A. THomson
McLean, VA
In my early 20's (@ 1988-1989), Molly Yard came to our small town in Southern Oregon to talk about women's rights and abortion rights. My mother, a lifetime activist for women's and civil rights said we should go hear Molly speak. My mother, Patricia Burrows, was a lifetime member of NOW, and was also a former State legislator in Colorado who had worked tirelessly for civil and women's rights.
She said it was the opportunity of a lifetime to hear from both the President of NOW, but also a history-making woman. She said that it was important for younger women like me to participate and keep the fight going, and that having someone like Molly Yard come to our little town was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Molly was to speak in a small meeting hall downtown, and my best friend and I went early to get good seats.There was approximately 200 women gathering on the steps, waiting to go inside and hear her speak, and there were hundreds of angry, hateful anti-abortion protesters outside calling us terrible names and waving pictures of fetuses in the air. There were local and state police to keep us safe from the protesters, but it was both exciting and frightening at the same time. I have never seen such hatred and anger (and now I believe fear) as I did on the faces of those people protesting Yard's arrival.
My mother also went to the rally, but because she was unable to walk far, she sat outside the hall in her car to show her support. When local religious groups tried to stuff hate literature in her window and shouted obsenities at her, my mother just waved her coat hanger and shouted, "Never again!". I was standing on the hall steps, watching this scene play out, and I told everyone, "That's my mother!"....a cheer went up from the crowd and we all waved our coat hangers in salute to my mother.
We eventually went inside to hear Molly speak, and I will never forget that day. She was a powerful, intense woman, and her call to us that day to keep up the fight was amazing. I suddenly understood what my mother, and millions of other women had fought for....and that I needed to be part of the continuing fight, both for women and their reproductive rights.
Molly's bravery and conviction and "straight talk" have served as an example to me all these years of how powerful we women can be, and has given me the courage to speak out against hatred and racism and those that would try to control our bodies and our lives. She will be missed, but will live on in all of us that were changed by hearing her speak in small towns across the country, and those who observed and benefitted from her good works. She will also live on in the young women after us, whose lives are immeasurably better because of the work of Molly Yard and other members of NOW.
Jill A. Burrows-Berge
Cave Junction, OR
Just a note to say "Thank You" and we shall carry on in your name and inspired by your example.
Irene Piccone
Northville, MI
Molly Yard was a fearless leader/ A fighter for the people. She was a great inspiration to me in my early days of political action. It was always refreshing to know that there was a women's organization that was willing to push the envelope on the establishment. Thank you Molly, you definitely went the extra yard for women!!!!!
"Able" Mable Thomas
Atlanta, Ga
I still remember sitting in a room with Molly Yard for the first time. She glowed with confidence, strength and power. And that voice, that bun and those fiery eyes! She will always be a powerful woman!
Leslie Miller Daley
Past Co-President
Dade County NOW
If I understood heaven it would definitely have to include Molly and Toni Carabillo and all their friends in a comfy room where they could all sit and strategize - and, of course, close by would be a very large auditorium with a not too tall podium at which they could speak until the cows come home. It is so amazing to have heroines who allowed us to all get in close enough to learn and grow at their sides. I'm sure that Molly has directly or indirectly touched the lives of almost every little girl in the country and made their worlds of possibilities so much more than would have been the case without her. I haven't seen her in twenty years I'd say - but I will never forget her and feel saddened to hear the news of her passing.
Marnie Delaney
Fairfax, CA
Molly was an inspiration to all of us during her years on the National Board and NOW President. She worked tirelessly to promote women and minorities. She inspired me to finally run for public office. Her commitment to challenge the status quo was her greatest strength.
Rep. Anne Gannon
House Democratic Leader Pro Tempore
Florida House of Representatives
My thoughts and prayers go out to all of Molly's family and close friends. She shall be missed by all who knew her.
Sheila Hightower Allen
Augusta, GA
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