My mother, Lillian Mirmak, who has died aged 87, was a court reporter, political activist and lover of culture and the arts. She grew up in the US, where she was active in the civil rights movement, and then lived in London for more than 50 years.
Born in York, Pennsylvania, Lillian was the eldest of three children of Katherine (nee Craiger), a shop assistant, and John Mirmak, a draughtsman in a factory. She went to John P McCaskey high school in Lancaster, graduating in 1953 and then worked for two years in the office of a local meat factory before enrolling at Millersville Teachers College.
