Text Box: DIANE LEATHERMAN 1938-2006 Diane Leatherman, a community activist and writer well-known and admired in the local area, died on Jan. 7 at her home in Cabin John after a long illness. She had ovarian cancer. Diane was known to many Glen Echo residents through her work at Glen Echo Park. She was widely acclaimed as an energetic, can-do sort of person who was involved in a wide range of activities. Her first job at the park in the early 70s was to open an art gallery in the Chautauqua Tower and to hire and supervise the carousel staff. She next was in charge of publicity for park-wide events and began the Saturday night dances in the Spanish Ballroom as well as lining up musical performers for the contra and folk dancing groups. When the National Park Service decided to put the park up for historic leasing, Diane organized a movement to save it and became staff director and chief fundraiser for the Glen Echo Park Foundation. In Cabin John, she helped organize the annual Crab Feast in 1970 as well as the Home Study group to help black children with tutoring and small scholarships. She was president of the Cabin John citizens association, and gained the county’s support in preserving and restoring the historic black cemetery behind the AME Zion Church on Seven Locks Road. Born in Kansas City, Miss., Diane came to the area in 1967 and attended American University with a major in education. She taught the four-year-old class at the Clara Barton Elementary School before becoming a costumed interpreter at Claude Moore Colonial Farm in McLean.. A fabric artist as well as a writer, Diane wrote four books. “Rebecca, A Maryland Farm Girl” was based on her mother-in-law’s childhood in rural Frederick County. “Abigail—Before the Revolution,” was a story of life on a subsistence farm in Colonial days. Her last book, “The Lunch Bunch,” is a collection of stories about cancer patients who met weekly for lunch and support. After her diagnosis of ovarian cancer she wrote of the possibility of a connection between fertility drugs and that disease in several local newspapers and magazines. Diane is survived by her husband of 24 years, Mark Leatherman. Her first marriage to Larry Heflin ended in divorce. She is also survived by five children, a foster son, and four grandchildren. A memorial service was held Jan. 14 at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer on Dunrobbin Dr., with many Glen Echo residents in attendance.