Full Name Sarah Jane Kemp Years active 29 Siblings Bill Kemp Occupation Gun control advocate Children James Scott Brady, Jr. | Nationality American Role James Brady's wife Cause of death Pneumonia Name Sarah Brady | |
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Born February 6, 1942 ( 1942-02-06 ) Died April 3, 2015, Alexandria, Virginia, United States Spouse James Brady (m. 1973–2014) Awards Glamour Woman of the Year Award | ||
Organizations founded Brady Campaign | ||
Sarah Brady, gun activist and wife of James Brady passes away
Sarah Jane Brady (née Kemp; February 6, 1942 – April 3, 2015) was a prominent advocate for gun control in the United States. Her husband, James Brady, was press secretary to U.S. president Ronald Reagan and was permanently handicapped as a result of an assassination attempt on Reagan.
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Life
She was born Sarah Jane Kemp in Kirksville, Missouri to L. Stanley Kemp, a high school teacher and later FBI agent, and Frances (née Stufflebean) Kemp, a former teacher and homemaker. She had a younger brother, Bill. She was raised in Alexandria, Virginia, where she graduated from Francis C. Hammond High School in 1959.
She graduated from the College of William & Mary in 1964. From 1964 to 1968 she was a public school teacher in Virginia. She married James Brady in Alexandria on July 21, 1973. On December 29, 1978, their only child, James "Scott" Brady Jr., was born.
From 1968 to 1970 she worked as assistant to the campaign director for the National Republican Congressional Committee. She then worked as an administrative aide, first for Mike McKevitt (R-CO) and then for Joseph J. Maraziti (R-NJ). From 1974 to 1978, she worked as director of administration and coordinator of field services for the Republican National Committee.
Her husband sustained a permanently disabling head wound during the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan, which occurred on March 30, 1981. James Brady remained as Press Secretary for the remainder of Reagan's administration, primarily in a titular role.
Alongside her husband, Sarah Brady became "one of the nation's leading crusaders for gun control". They later became active in the lobbying organization Handgun Control, Inc. that would eventually be renamed the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. She was chairwoman of the Brady Campaign from 2000 until her death in 2015.
In 1994, she and her husband received the S. Roger Horchow Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.
Death
Sarah Brady died at the age of 73 on April 3, 2015, in Alexandria, Virginia, from pneumonia. Her husband James had died at the same age in the previous year, on August 4, 2014.
Book
In 2002, Sarah Brady published her autobiography, A Good Fight. According to Library Journal, it is more about her personal battles and her determination and courage than about gun control.
In April 2002, Court TV announced a planned television movie adaptation of the book, to be produced in conjunction with Hearst Entertainment. At the book's launch, Bill Clinton praised her for having "given the gift of life to countless thousands and thousands of Americans".
The book gives an "intimate" look at her public and personal life, including a "detailed, suspenseful account" of the efforts to pass the Brady Bill, according to Publishers Weekly, which suggested that "fans of [Katharine] Graham's Personal History may enjoy this story of a determined woman in a male-dominated Washington."
Kirkus Reviews called it "spirited," portraying Brady as a "scrapper" who never gives up, despite her husband's injury, her son's medical problems, and her own battle with smoking and lung cancer.