Bettye Travis, Former NAAFA President Dies

[Sandie S-R]

I know this was mentioned before, without details, but I received this today, and thought any of you who knew Bettye would want to read this article. She was a wonderful, passionate woman who did much to further fat acceptance and will be greatly missed. I hope that Bettye rests well, knowing what a positive impact on our world she has made.

Bettye Travis -- fought to gain more respect for fat population
Steve Rubenstein, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Bettye Travis, a nationally known advocate to end discrimination
against fat people and a woman who often proclaimed that "being fat
is fabulous,'' has died.

Ms. Travis, 55, of Berkeley, died May 7 in an Oakland hospital of
complications from cancer.

"We were all taught to be ashamed of being fat, but we aren't buying
that anymore," said Ms. Travis, the former president of the National
Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. "No matter what your size,
you deserve respect. Being fat is not a crime."

In the line of duty, she battled radio shock jocks, led workshops,
counseled members and fought prejudice with good humor -- once, when
fellow visitors at Disneyland were pointing at and photographing
her, she smiled and grabbed her own camera and began snapping
pictures of the people who were snapping pictures of her, until they
got the message.

Ms. Travis was a native of Cheyenne, Wyo., and a graduate of
Monmouth College in Illinois. She came to Berkeley in 1978 and
received a master's degree from JFK University in Orinda. She was a
founder and proprietor of Spun Sugar, a Berkeley store and school
for candy makers and bakers.

Like fellow members of the association that she headed in the 1990s,
she called herself "fat" with pride.

"It's what we are, and we're proud of it,'' she said.

She was the former client services director for the AIDS Project of
the East Bay and a longtime activist in the civil rights and anti-
war movements. She enjoyed collecting snow globes and toy moose,
attending San Francisco Giants games and reading mysteries set in
the Scottish moors.

Surviving are her partner of 17 years, Linda Moreno, and her
daughters, Bianca and Cinaida Moreno-Travis, all of Berkeley.

A memorial gathering will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday at the
Salvation Army Church, 4600 Appian Way, El Sobrante.

http://www.sfgate. com/cgi-bin/ article.cgi?

I also found a couple of more articles about Bettye that you all might appreciate:

http://www.berkshirepublishing.com/a...em=S031000502A

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...1/ai_n10536453

http://www.careerjournal.com/myc/cli...905-voros.html

Her fabulous business, Spun Sugar:

http://www.spunsugar.com/

[Jon Blaze]

Her contributions are definitely enough for me to look up to her. She's done great things for the movement. God rest her soul.

[BeautifulPoeticDisaster]

I was just gunna post this same article. She sounds like a warrior and a compassionate person. Cancer claims the lives of so many people these days it seems. And cancer doesn't discriminate...fat, thin, pretty, ugly...etc. Cancer attacks lots.

She will be greatly missed.