ST. LOUIS (CelebrityAccess) — Phyllis Schlafly, a housewife whose grass roots campaigns in the service of conservative causes helped to spark the conservative revival of the 1980s and 1990s, died on Monday. She was 92.
Schlafly's death was confirmed by the Eagle Forum, a conservative advocacy group she founded in 1972. A post on the group's website said that Schlafly passed away in the presence of her family at her home in St. Louis, Missouri.
Schlafly's first foray in politics came in the 1950s when she joined the crusade against the march of International Communism, but became a nationally recognized figure on the American right following the publication of her 1964 best selling book A Choice Not An Echo."
Schlafly as the doyenne of the right, was a prominent voice in the conservative defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment, which was intended to constitutionally guarantee equal rights for women. Schlafly played a key role in organizing conservative women agaist the measure.
She we also at the forefront of the conservative pro life movement's battle against abortion and in 1990, she founded Republican National Coalition for Life with the specific mission of protecting the pro-life plank in the Republican Party Platform.
Over the course of her career, she authored more than 20 books, on subjects ranging from nuclear strategy to child care, as well as a monthly syndicated column, The Phyllis Schlafly Report, which was published continuously since 1967.
As well, she had syndicated radio spots that were produced several times a week and frequently appeared on almost every network news and public affairs program of note.
Professionally, Schlafly was an attorney, receiving her J.D. from Washington University Law School in 1978.
Mrs. Schlafly was preceded in death by her beloved husband Fred and is survived by six children along with 16 grand and 3 great grandchildren. – Staff Writers
