Delivered by Annie Laurie Gaylor, with music provided by Dan Barker, on Oct. 29, 2004, at the 27th annual national convention of the Freedom From Religion Foundation in Madison, Wisconsin.
Anne Gaylor, the founder and president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, is stepping down from the presidency after this convention. She has been president 26 years officially, but 28 years in reality. She is not necessarily retiring — she will be involved as an on-call consultant with the office, and is still deciding where she will direct her considerable energies in the future.
I was hoping she’d out-Reagan Reagan (not to put him in her company). Reagan was 78 when he left his presidency, Anne will be 78 on Nov. 25. She still works harder than the rest of us — people one half to one third of her age.
She is stepping down only because her eyesight has diminished — due to macular degeneration and glaucoma. She may be losing her eyesight, but she is not losing her vision.
