Mary Ann Miller, who passed last week at the age of 85, was a creative force at WBAI for over 30 years. She hosted a number of shows and created original productions in arts, feminist and NYC-political programming. She was also a fiercely committed housing activist and became a driving force in the coalition that put notorious tenant-harassing landlord Steve Croman in jail--the first time a tenant coalition had succeeded in jailing a real estate speculator--Croman made miserable the lives of the tenants who had to live in his hundreds of buildings without services such as heat in winter (Mary Ann was in her late 70's and early 80's when helped lead Stop Croman Coalition--which she also named--to this tenant victory).

She was a lifelong rebel who lived an extraordinary life: growing up during a pre-feminist time when women and girls were brought up to keep a low profile, Mary Ann clearly never got the memo! She was outspoken, pulled no punches and defied every convention--starting when as a child, she was kicked out of Saint Joseph's of Catholic Elementary school for talking back to the nuns and pulling pranks! In her 20's she was imprisoned for smoking pot while traveling in Italy. In her later adult life she went to jail, for doing Civil Disobedience as part of her housing activism

Growing up on the Lower East Side (her family lived on East 10th Street and Third Avenue), she gravitated toward the bohemia of the West Village and what would later be called the East Village--hanging out with artists in the 10th Street and Third Ave Gallery Row during the heyday of Abstract Expressionism. After an early marriage and adventures in Germany and Italy, she came back to the U.S and worked at the Village Gate, where she hung out with jazz musicians and the famous people who gravitated toward this vital center of the jazz scene. Her later radio interviews with artists and jazz musicians drew on these experiences.

On Monday, May 10 at 9-10 PM, Joy of Resistance will host a tribute to the life and times of Mary Ann Lucchese Miller, with guests: Janet Coleman, host of Cat Radio Cafe, Cynthia Chaffee, tenant activist co-leader of the Stop Croman Coalition and Wasim Lone, tenant organizer at GOLES (Good Old Lower East Side). We'll also play clips of  some of Mary Ann's great radio work and hear her great laugh!

The show will begin with the weekly Joy of Resistance Feminist News Roundup. 

MORE ABOUT MARY ANN MILLER

HER WBAI RADIO WORK: FEMINISM AND THE ARTS

Starting in the 80's/90's Mary Ann hosted "Talk In The Morning", and later was co-host of the "WBAI Women's Collective" and "The Arts Magazine", as well as being a contributor to "Arts Express". She also produced some great feminist 'specials'--one on "Older Women and Poverty", and another that took the Catholic Church to task for its many crimes against women over the centuries--it was called "The Church Against Women / Women Against the Church"--unfortunately these were produced before the internet and we cannot find any recordings of them (if you know of any, please let us know!).

MORE ON MARY ANN'S HOUSING AND NEIGHBORHOOD ACTIVISM

Mary Ann's work against the gentrification of the Lower East Side also consisted of supporting and working for the preservation of the Liz Christie Community Garden on Houston Street and Second Avenue. Early on (1970's or 80's), she, along with others, was arrested for trying to stop  the NYU Dormitories on Third Avenue, as NYU claimed more and more of the Lower East Side--chaining herself in the dorm construction site. 

HER LATER YEARS

According to friends, Mary Ann "lived like a monk" with very few possessions--on the sixth floor of a tenement building in Little Italy. She had developed problems with her legs and during this last pandemic year did not leave her house much. However, loving neighbors brought her food and kept her well supplied with what she needed. A close friend and neighbor, Terry Iacuzzo, who also, lived near Mary Ann on the top floor, would bring folding chairs up to the roof and in nice weather the two would look at the stars and talk for hours. Terry also made sure Mary Ann got to a hospital after she experienced difficulty in breathing about two weeks ago. Mary Ann was diagnosed at Bellevue Hospital with pneumonia and Covid-19 and passed away within a week of admission. 

Her passing was a shock to her many friends and admirers--these include myself, Fran Luck, and I am proud to be producing this tribute to her. She remains with us in many ways--including the fact that the tenant coalition she founded is still going strong--with its work cut out for it since landlord Steve Croman is now out of jail and acquiring buildings again! La lucha continua! Mary Ann Luchese Miller: PRESENTE!