By Marlo Thomas
It’s hard to believe that Mary’s gone. I know how difficult these last few years have been for her and her family. We never worked together, but the TV shows we did during those early days of the feminist movement fit together like a puzzle. I’ve been thinking about those times since I heard the news. My character on “That Girl” had ventured into a new place for women on television — America’s workforce. Then Mary Richards carried that baton to WJM-TV in Minneapolis, where she stepped up to issues that were on minds of real women across the country — from equal pay to equal say. It was an exciting time to be on television, and in that way, I feel that Mary and I were sisters in spirit. May God bless her soul.
Marlo Thomas is an award-winning actress, producer, and social activist known for starring in the sitcom That Girl and her award-wining feminist children’s franchise, Free to Be…You and Me.
Originally published at medium.com