The San Francisco Chronicle ran a very nice obituary of Mike Mayakis, longtime libertarian and antiwar activist, and my best friend. Following is the article:
Mike Mayakis – Libertarian activist and agile debater
by Charlie Goodyear, Chronicle Staff Writer
August 19, 2004
Mike Mayakis, a prominent Libertarian whose surprising political positions made him a formidable debater, has died. He was 53.
Mr. Mayakis died at his home in San Francisco on Sunday after a long struggle with leukemia.
A native of Los Angeles, he moved to San Francisco in 1971 and worked for more than a decade at the Haight Ashbury Switchboard as a counselor and trainer for the service that provided information, assistance and counseling to the city’s growing counterculture.
Mr. Mayakis was elected to the switchboard’s Board of Trustees in 1973 and became its president in 1980.
During the 1970s, he worked as an aide to liberal Republican state Sen. Milton Marks of San Francisco and eventually became active in Libertarian politics, founding a chapter of Students for a Libertarian Society at San Francisco State University.
In 1982, Mr. Mayakis was the Libertarian Party’s candidate for state Senate. He was elected chair of the San Francisco Libertarian Party and held that position three times during the 1980s.
He became well known for defying assumptions in political debates. He argued frequently for the rights of smokers when he himself was an asthmatic.
In 1988, he worked for the Libertarian Republican Organizing Committee at the Republic Convention in New Orleans. But he was never a Republican, and in 1995 helped found the popular Web site Antiwar.com.
His failing health took its toll on his political activism. But Mr. Mayakis turned his frustrating experiences with the medical system into a guide called "Express Hospital Emergency Room Admission & Survival Kit" to help other patients.
He is survived by his wife, Betty Honeycutt; siblings Matthew Mayakis, Martha Mayakis and Sara Tisher, all of Los Angeles; and stepfather Lloyd Daic, also of Los Angeles.
A memorial service is being planned. For details, phone (650) 838-0381.