Cora Masters Barry, the widow of former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, is suing the woman who donated a kidney to her husband in 2009.
Mrs. Barry has filed a lawsuit against Kim Dickens for using her husband’s celebrity status to raise money for a charity Ms. Dickens founded called the Barry Dickens Kidney Foundation, Politico reported.
On her website, Ms. Dickens says Marion Barry helped her co-found the foundation — a claim his widow denies.
Mrs. Barry’s lawsuit said her husband’s estate will not allow Ms. Dickens to use Barry’s name posthumously. The lawsuit asks for Ms. Dickens to collect any promotional materials with Barry on them and turn them over to be destroyed, Washington City Paper reported.
Ms. Dickens’ website still prominently features pictures of Barry, despite two cease-and-desist letters from his widow’s attorney, A. Scott Bolden, City Paper reported.
Ms. Dickens donated the organ to Barry while he was serving on the D.C. City Council in 2009 and struggling with kidney failure, Politico reported. The lifelong Democrat died in D.C. on Nov. 23 from cardiac arrest at 78.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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