Harriett Weaver, 75; Fought for Brush-Clearance Ordinance

Harriett Weaver, leader of the successful fight for a more effective brush-clearance ordinance in the hills and canyons of Los Angeles, died Wednesday night at St. Joseph Hospital in Burbank after a long illness. She was 75.

“The citizens who live in the brush area, who have never heard of you, don’t know how indebted they are to you because you have been so persistent,” said then-Fire Commissioner Jerry Fields when the Encino woman was honored in 1981 for her work on behalf of the 1968 ordinance and for her continued efforts to have it enforced. “You made the city respond to you because you were right.”

Her husband, John D. Weaver, author of numerous magazine articles and such books as “Los Angeles: The Enormous Village 1781-1981” and “The Brownsville Raid,” said her concern over the conflict between city brush clearance regulations and rising insurance industry standards began when the Weavers lived in Benedict Canyon and she headed the fire committee of the Federation of Hillside and Canyon Assns.

“She made a difference in this city,” the writer said. “In a huge megalopolis it’s hard for one person to make an impact. She did.”

The Weavers met and married in 1937, when he was a reporter and she a contributor to the Kansas City Star. With little money, they came to Southern California to write, but earning a living at it was difficult at first, so she took a non-writing job to support them.

“She gave up her writing career for me,” Weaver said.

He called her the best editor he had ever had. He dedicated all of his books to her--including the one he wrote about their marriage, “As I Live and Breathe.”

Harriett Weaver was born in Haigler, Neb., on Oct. 29, 1913. She graduated from the University of Kansas where, Weaver noted, “she was both a Phi Beta Kappa and a beauty queen.”

Her health problems began with melanoma in 1967. She eventually had lymph glands removed and underwent prolonged radiation therapy that brought on vascular problems. Weaver dropped all his community activities to care for her.

He said no funeral services are planned, but he plans to talk to city firefighting officials about a tribute in connection with her work on behalf of the Santa Monica Mountains.