Thursday, May 14, 2015

In Remembrance of Lilady


A friend and fellow skeptic known as "Lilady" has passed away leaving a huge hole in our hearts and on the internet.   She was an omnipresent voice on numerous blogs and articles regarding vaccines and autism and will be sorely missed.

Lilady had a severely developmentally and medically disabled son whom she cared for with the deepest love and commitment I have ever known.  She became a fierce opponent of state mental institutions that cruelly warehoused special needs people and fought tirelessly for their closure.  She was the original Mother Warrior.  Through her trials and tribulations along with other parents of special needs children, she "adopted" the son of a friend whom she helped care for until Lilady passed away.

Lilady's advocacy extended to the internet where she was a prolific commenter on vaccine and autism articles.  She fearlessly questioned dubious stories, provided sound evidence to support her claims and was never intimidated by anyone.  Her decades-long expertise as a public health nurse along with her experience with special needs children and adults and fierce passion made her a formidable foe of anti-science purveyors.

Our thoughts are with her and her family and hope they know how appreciated, respected and missed their Lilady will always be.

7 comments:

  1. Thank you for this tribute to Lilady, Science Mom. We'll all miss her.

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  2. I do wonder whether lilady's family knows how many people appreciated her online. I would imagine there were plenty who appreciated her in the rest of her life.

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  3. I too hope that Lilady's family finds these remembrances. I've been re-reading some of her comments around the blogosphere and thinking of our conversations. I will miss her.

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  4. She will be missed, terribly. She was a wonderful online personality who staunchly fought to protect children from disease (and the rest of us from misinformation, misrepresentations and lies).

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  5. A fitting tribute to a tenacious lady

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  6. I wish I could say I had the pleasure of interacting with Lilady, but I find myself wanting to express my condolences nonetheless. From what I saw, she was a tireless fighter for the rights of disabled people as well as to protect children from the horrors of disease. May she rest in peace.

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  7. She was a lady. No pushover, but a lady. She fought hard and long for her son and for others.

    I will miss her.

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