Katherine ‘Kit’ Tremaine; Author, Philanthropist and Activist

Katherine “Kit” Tremaine, 89, an author, philanthropist and social activist who was on Richard Nixon’s enemies list. During her lifetime, Tremaine donated about $30 million to Democratic political candidates and causes. She campaigned against the Vietnam War in the 1960s, standing in silent protest once a week outside the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. In 1973, she learned that she was on Nixon’s list because of her support of Democrats and opposition to the war. She considered the listing “a high honor.” Tremaine created the Sunflower Foundation, which provided financial support to 1,000 organizations that work for Native American betterment, civil rights, peace, housing reform and environmental, labor and women’s issues. As an author and poet, she published such works as “The Butterfly Rises,” “The Guest in the Garden” and “Fragments: My Path Through the 20th Century.” On Monday in Santa Barbara.