Violet "Vim" Crane Wright was a Turkish-American entrepreneur, academic, political activist, and environmentalist.

Early life and education

Wright was born June 4, 1926, as Lisetta Iakovidou in Istanbul Turkey. She was adopted by the American couple General John Alden Crane and Mary McKim Crane. They moved to Baltimore, Maryland in 1936. She attended the

Garrison Forest School Garrison Forest School (GFS) is a non-denominational private college preparatory boarding and day school located on a campus in Owings Mills, Maryland. GFS offers kindergarten through 12th grade for girls as well as a co-educational program for ...

but did not graduate. She married Edward “Skip” Wright Jr. in 1949. She later attended Eaton-Burnett Business College. Vim and Skip had two sons.

Career

While her husband served in the military Wright volunteered with the American Cancer Society, a local hospital, and the Republican Party. She moved to

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

after divorcing her husband. In Colorado she discovered a love for nature eventually becoming the President of the Colorado Open Space Council and even placed herself in the path of bulldozers to prevent the destruction of the Florissant Fossil Beds. In 1977 Wright moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

to work at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

's Institute for Environmental Studies as assistant director. She left the Institute when it was closed in 1992. In Washington she worked with the Farming and Environment Project and founded Washington Conservation Voters. She served on the

Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...

's national board.

Awards and recognition

* Feinstone Award for environmental achievement * Environmental Hero - Washington Environmental Council

Death and legacy

Wright died on June 1, 2003, in Seattle, Washington of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. Her papers are held by the University of Washington Libraries.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Vim Businesspeople from Istanbul 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen Garrison Forest School people Turkish emigrants to the United States American environmentalists American women environmentalists Activists from Baltimore Activists from Colorado Activists from Seattle University of Washington people Deaths from lung cancer in Washington (state) 1926 births 2003 deaths