SUSAN SMITH

SUSAN
Susan Porter Smith, environmentalist, artist, and pioneer in the movement for equal rights for women in the workplace, died on September 11, 2003 of ovarian cancer at the home of long time friends in Blue Point, New York. She was 69.

Susan, the only child of Eugenia Porter Arnold and Edward Conrad Smith, was born in Weston, WV, August 11, 1934. She grew up in New York City and graduated from Vassar College in 1956. After college Susan worked as an editorial assistant for the Special Libraries Journal in NYC, was secretary to Robert Hale at the Metropolitan Museum, served as an education advisor with Scientific American, and was a science research editor at Readers Digest from 1964-1974.

While at the Readers Digest Susan observed that women did not receive pay or opportunities equal to their male counterparts. Susan Smith vs. Readers Digest, a class action suit organized by Susan which was eventually settled out of court, was notable for having the highest payment per capita for a sex discrimination case based on equal employment rights at that time. Based on her experience at Readers Digest, Susan contributed a chapter to the book Rooms with No View, a woman's guide to the man's world of the media, compiled by the Media Women's Association, of which she was a member [Harper & Row, 1974].
In the mid 1970's, Susan studied to become an artist and gradually began to spend more time in Mexico. She studied art at the Instituto Allende, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
At the National Academy of Design in New York City, was an organizer of San Miguel Artists for the Environment, and exhibited in group shows at Bellas Artes, Instituto Allende, and at the East End Arts Council, Riverhead, New York.
She eventually established her home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. There she served as Vice President of the San Miguel Audubon Society from 1984-1993; President of the Sociedad Audubon de Mexico from 1993-1996; Associate Director of the Rio Laja project Fundacion Ecologica de Guanajuato from 1997-1999; Founder and President of Salvemos al Rio Laja, A.C., 1999-2003; Founder of Save the Laja, Inc.; and Director Cuerpos de Conservation, Guanajuato, Mexico from 2002-2003. Over the past five years Susan Smith worked tirelessly to establish an organization to restore the Laja River watershed in central Mexico by partnering with local social service and environmental organizations with strong ties in local communities.
By creating partnerships and coordinating activities with Save the Children, CASA (Centro para los Adolescentes de San Miguel Allende), and Cuerpos de Conservacion Guanajuato in the Sierra de Santa Rosa, she created an effective organization to launch a major restoration effort within the watershed.
Because expenses, experience, equipment, and administrative management are shared, the coalition provides a model for economic efficiency.

Major scientists contribute their expertise to the project, most notably Dr. Roger Tomlinson, the father of GIS (Geographic Information Systems). The US Forest Service supplies technical training in river restoration. Key funding is provided by US Fish and Wildlife Services, the Mexican government, and private contributors.
Salvemos al Rio Laja, A.C., the Mexican charitable organization created by Susan, has reached into 51 villages, constructing over 4000 small dams and introducing land use preservation techniques. Based on the current activity, as many as 10,000 dams may be in place by the end of 2003.
The Laja River, located in the state of Guanajuato in arid central Mexico, is a vital corridor of green essential for migratory and local wildlife and essential for the survival of local communities. It is a tributary of the Rio Lerma, one of Mexico's largest rivers and a major industrial corridor, and is an ecoregion that is considered globally outstanding by the World Wildlife Fund for its fish populations which are "virtually unsurpassed in North America and rare worldwide."
A ceremony for Susan was held in New York on 9/29/03.
Susan's ashes were thrown to the head of the Laja on 11/07/03.
Betsy January (betsy@bobjanuary.com) is the executor, and the president of Save the Laja, Inc.
Now, the former home of Susan is lived by the Casa Laja in San Miguel.

Donations in memory of Susan may be made to Save the Laja, Inc.., 825 East Gunther St., San Antonio, Texas, 78210. Save the Laja, Inc. is a fully tax. deductible 501(c)3 charity.

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