DIANE DISNEY MILLER

I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Diane Disney Miller following complications following a recent fall.

The eldest daughter of Walt Disney and his wife, Lillian, Diane was intimately involved in her father's career: with her sister, Sharon, she introduced him to the Mary Poppins books of P L Travers and, in the years following Walt's death, stalwartly defended her father's reputation in the face of assaults by adversely critical journalists and biographers.

A generous benefactor and philanthropist who furthered her father's commitments to the arts, she worked tirelessly to see the creation of Los Angeles' Disney Concert Hall and in recent years brought into being the acclaimed Disney Family Museum in San Francisco.

Married to Ron Miller, former CEO of the Disney Company, they had seven children.

I had the great pleasure and privilege of knowing Diane for thirty years and collaborating with her on a major series for BBC Radio 2 celebrating Disney's Women – both real and fictional who featured in Walt's life and movies.

Here is the first of those programmes...

 You can read more about a couple of my encounters with Diane here.

DIANE DISNEY MILLER

(1933-2013)