Obituaries - May 28, 1999

Holly Caudill; Activist and Attorney

Holly Caudill, 36, quadriplegic attorney who fought to expand benefits for the disabled. Caudill was paralyzed from the neck down after a car accident when she was 14. She cried for days, believing her life was over, but her father, who had lost his wife to alcohol and drugs and a son to fetal alcohol syndrome, urged her not to give up. Caudill went back to school, eventually earning a law degree from Gonzaga University School of Law in her hometown of Spokane, Wash. She was believed to be the first quadriplegic woman in the United States to become a lawyer. In 1995, she joined the U.S. attorney’s office in Spokane. Two years later, she moved to San Diego to prosecute border crimes as a special assistant U.S. attorney. Federal subsidies enabled her to employ a full-time attendant to feed, bathe and dress her. When she moved to California, however, her federal subsidies were cut, forcing her to spend most of her salary--about $3,500 a month--to pay her assistant. Frustrated by the plight shared by hundreds of physically challenged people who want to work but cannot shoulder the financial burden of special assistance, she became a champion of legislation to enable the working disabled to receive federal subsidies regardless of the state in which they live. She lobbied in Washington for HR 2020 in September 1997, but the bill stalled after the resignation of its sponsor, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. On Friday at UCLA Medical Center, of heart failure after surgery for a life-threatening infection.

Chester L. Migden; Screen Actors Guild Leader

Chester L. “Chet” Migden, 78, attorney who helped the Screen Actors Guild win significant contracts for better pay and benefits. As national executive director of the guild, Migden helped establish the principle of paying residuals to actors for reruns of television programs. He also negotiated all agency franchise agreements from 1952 to 1981, and these remain models for collective bargaining contracts in the creative unions today. On Migden’s watch, the union grew from 9,600 members and offices in three cities to more than 50,000 members and offices in 15 cities. From 1982 until his retirement in 1996, he was executive director of the Assn. of Talent Agents. Born in New York City, Migden served in the Army and the merchant marine during World War II. He earned his law degree from Columbia University and began his legal career as staff attorney for the National Labor Relations Board in New York, concentrating on entertainment labor issues. In Los Angeles, he served for 25 years on the board of the Motion Picture & Television Fund. On Sunday in Los Angeles.