RIP Mary Tyler Moore

image of Mary Tyler Moore testifying, surrounded by children
Moore testifying at the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) Children's Congress in 2009.

Actress and activist Mary Tyler Moore has died at age 80. The Hollywood Reporter has a nice obituary focused on her acting career. She was also an activist whose work centered on diabetes and animal rights.

Ironically, Mary Tyler Moore was not a feminist herself, despite being a feminist icon to many women. But her starring turn on The Mary Tyler Moore Show was hugely influential for generations of women.

When I arrived at university, walking across campus on my first day in Chicago, I remember feeling exhilarated and scared and full of gumption. I was wearing a green corduroy cap, which my mother had made for herself before I was born, and I took it off my head and threw it up in the air in celebration.

Because a million rewatched episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show had suggested that was the only appropriate thing to do.

My condolences to her family, friends, colleagues, and fans.

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