Linda Smith Dyer | |
|---|---|
 Dyer in 1998 | |
| Born | Linda Smith August 6, 1948 |
| Died | September 27, 2001 (aged 53) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | B.S.mathematics,University of Maine M.S. mathematics, University of Maine J.D., University of Maine (1980) |
| Occupation(s) | Lawyer,lobbyist,women's rights activist |
| Years active | 1977–2001 |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 3 |
| Awards | Maine Women's Hall of Fame (2001) |
Linda Smith Dyer (August 6, 1948 – September 27, 2001[1]) was an Americanlawyer,lobbyist, andwomen's rights activist. After a two-decade legal career, she entered public service as deputy commissioner of the Maine Department of Agriculture. She co-founded theMaine Women's Lobby and was active in the effort to ratify theEqual Rights Amendment in Maine. A member on numerous boards and committees, she was a past president of theMaine State Bar Association and the Family Planning Association of Maine. She was inducted into theMaine Women's Hall of Fame in 2001, a few months before her death.
Linda Smith was born inLewiston, Maine to Clement and Mary Ellen Smith. She had two brothers and two sisters. She grew up on her family'sdairy farm inMonmouth.[2] After her mother's death in 1961, her father remarried.[2]
She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees inmathematics from theUniversity of Maine atOrono. In 1980 she earned herJuris Doctor degree from that university.[2]
In 1979 she joined the law firm of Doyle and Nelson inAugusta.[3] In 1981 she opened her own law practice in Augusta, which eventually became known as Dyer and Goodall.[2] In the 1980s and 1990s she specialized in legislative advocacy,[2] representing numerous groups including Tetra Pak Inc., a manufacturer of juice boxes,[4] ITW Hi-Cone,[5] and dairy and milk companies.[6][7]
In 1999[2] Dyer was named deputy commissioner of the Maine Department of Agriculture.[7] During her tenure, she chaired theNortheast Dairy Compact.[2][7]
In 1977 she was named presiding officer of the Maine State Meeting for Women, which elected 19 delegates, Dyer among them, to represent the state at the1977 National Women's Conference.[8][9] In 1978 Dyer co-founded theMaine Women's Lobby withJanet T. Mills andLois Galgay Reckitt.[10]
Dyer was active in the effort to ratify theEqual Rights Amendment in Maine, serving on the ERA for Maine steering committee[11] and appearing on a debate-style program onWVII-TV in 1984 as a proponent of the measure.[12] She rebutted claims by opponents that the amendment would yield taxpayer-fundedabortions for low-income women and legalizesame-sex marriage in the state.[11]
Dyer was a member of the first town council inWinthrop in the 1970s, and was re-elected in 1998.[2] She founded and served as president of the Winthrop Educational Corporation, which raises funds to benefit local schools.[2] She served as chair and trustee of the Cobbossee Watershed District, was a labor consultant for the Maine State Employees Association and sat on the board of directors of Cushnoc Bank and Trust Company.[3][8] She carried out independent research surveyingequal employment opportunity practices in the state government for the Maine Human Rights Commission.[8]
A member of theMaine State Bar Association, she served as its president in 1998.[2] She was a board member of the Family Planning Association of Maine, serving as president in 1990.[2] She was a member of the Maine Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. She was a board member of the University of Maine Foundation.[2]
In 2001 Dyer was inducted into theMaine Women's Hall of Fame.[10] That same year, she received theSarah Orne Jewett Award from the Maine Women's Fund for her efforts on behalf of women and girls.[2] TheMaine Women's Policy Center established the Linda Smith Dyer Fellowship for qualifying law students in her memory.[13]
Dyer married twice. With her first husband, Isaac W. Dyer, she had twin sons.[9][10][14] Her second husband is Charles Jacobs, a deputy commissioner for the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services, with whom she had one daughter.[2][7] They were residents ofWinthrop.[7] Dyer died ofcancer on September 27, 2001, age 53.[2][7]