Linda Smith Dyer

Linda Smith Dyer (August 6, 1948 – September 27, 2001 ) was an American lawyer, lobbyist, and women's rights activist. After a two-decade legal career, she entered public service as deputy commissioner of the Maine Department of Agriculture. She co-founded the Maine Women's Lobby and was active in the effort to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in Maine. A member on numerous boards and committees, she was a past president of the Maine State Bar Association and the Family Planning Association of Maine. She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 2001, a few months before her death.

Early life and education Linda Smith was born in Lewiston, Maine to Clement and Mary Ellen Smith. She had two brothers and two sisters. She grew up on her family's dairy farm in Monmouth.

She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics from the University of Maine at Orono. In 1980 she earned her Juris Doctor degree. In 1981 she opened her own law practice in Augusta, which eventually became known as Dyer and Goodall. ITW Hi-Cone, and dairy and milk companies. In 1978 Dyer co-founded the Maine Women's Lobby with Janet T. Mills and Lois Galgay Reckitt.

Dyer was active in the effort to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in Maine, serving on the ERA for Maine steering committee and appearing on a debate-style program on WVII-TV in 1984 as a proponent of the measure. She rebutted claims by opponents that the amendment would yield taxpayer-funded abortions for low-income women and legalize same-sex marriage in the state.

Personal life Dyer married twice. With her first husband, Isaac W. Dyer, she had twin sons. Her second husband is Charles Jacobs, a deputy commissioner for the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services, with whom she had one daughter. Dyer died of cancer on September 27, 2001, age 53.