Celebrating Meris Michaels, 1947 - 2025

My wife and I met Meris Michaels in 2015 in Switzerland as we were working on creating the French version of a play called Innocenzo about a clown who develops electro-magnetic radiation syndrome. Meris journeyed from Geneva to see the preview performance at the Centre Prévention et Santé near Neuchatel. I could not quite figure out why this kind American woman was living alone in Geneva but it was nice to have another native english speaker involved in the fight for safe technology in Switzerland. We had a chance to speak more when we coincidentally were on the same flight back to New York some months later. Thus began a multi-year phone and email correspondence where I came to know a woman who did not suffer fools gladly - and the world was full of of fools. She was both grandmotherly and a sprightly fighter, keenly aware of hypocrisy and full of feeling for the innocent people who she knew were being harmed by corporate greed and the government officials enabling that harm. Her blog, Mieux Prevenir, available in both English and French was - and is - a deeply felt chronicle of that harm. She was not interested in sharing "her views" but rather was able to gather news from around the world that, over the weeks and years, painted an undeniable picture of widespread injury to public health from the wireless and pharmaceutical industries, among others.
Her typical, genuine modesty is on display as late as June 6, a few days before she passed away. The title of the blog piece is:

Reader's comment on the Schlatter Motion published by the Tribune de Genève
tdg.ch, 6 June 2025

Health of the Population

The association Doctors for the Environment recently cited a scientific study that compiled numerous animal experiments. In rats, the level of certainty was deemed high that exposure to radiofrequency (RF) radiation emitted by wireless devices increases the risk of two types of cancer: gliomas and schwannomas.

The Confederation says the situation is under control. No, it is not. On May 7, 2025, the National Council rejected a motion (130 votes to 62, with 8 absent or not voting) calling for the establishment of market surveillance to monitor compliance with legal cell phone radiation limits and protect users' health. Although the Confederation earned 1.4 billion Swiss francs from the sale of 4G and 5G frequencies to operators Swisscom, Sunrise, and Salt between 2012 and 2024, Federal Councilor Baume-Schneider recommended rejecting this motion, considering the implementation of such surveillance to be demanding in terms of financial and human resources.

Meanwhile, more and more users are being exposed to potentially harmful RF radiation emitted by cell phones, and rates of serious cancers such as glioblastoma are increasing among young people.

You have to read the French piece below it to discover that it is Meris who is making the comment. Poking her way into influential publications and reaching out to influential people about the attacks on public health which she took personally was a weekly event for her. This was all in addition to the enormous support she offered the NGO Phonegate: https://phonegatealert.org/en/homage-to-meris-michaels-who-just-left-us/

I was happy to learn that she stepped out of her usual behind the scenes approach when she told me that she had decided to publish her experiences during COVID. While many people fighting for safe technology around the globe understandably choose to stay focused on this David and Goliath issue, it seems remiss to not mention the challenges Meris faced during COVID and the fierce thoughtfulness and empathy she had for others during this multi-faceted disaster. Already isolated by her difficulty walking and living in Geneva as an older person without family nearby, COVID greatly exacerbated her isolation. Her "Covid Story" is linked below on the left.

Meris was a pianist who studied music at Oberlin. Playing the piano continued to be a source of joy and comfort to her until the end of her life.
Her last year or so was particularly difficult as the isolation of COVID gave way to her increasing mobility challenges. But in her typical determined way, she resisted my suggestions about assisted living facilities and the like. I offered to fly to Switzerland and help her move back to the US but she was not interested - despite the fact that she was having trouble accessing doctor's offices, going to the post office, throwing out her garbage, etc. She was a fighter, determined to live - and, it seems, die - on her own terms.

She never told me the full story of her life but my understanding is that her partner passed away from cancer in the 2000's and this is part of what put her on the quest to improve public health. It is impossible to say how many lives she has saved or improved and will continue to save or improve from the massive amount of public health information, almost universally ignored by the mainstream media, she tirelessly translated, posted, wrote and spoke about over these recent decades.

Lastly, she also had a sense of humor and appreciated art for its own sake and particularly art that spoke to the issues that were so important to her. This was part of her interest in Piti Theatre Company's work and it always made me happy when she expressed her happiness about some review, photo, article or video of our work, particularly in relation to young people. In other words, although she was determined to make progress on the EMF issue, she still appreciated other approaches to helping. The global point of view she was able to offer as I shared our local victories and losses with our grassroots safe tech organization Hilltown Health in Western MA was also a great gift. We will miss her. My wife and I and our team here offer our condolences to her family and stand with the other advocates she touched in deep appreciation of this person who embodied integrity and care for others in the broadest sense.

Jonathan Mirin, June 21, Montebello, Quebec

Piti Theatre Company
Hilltown Health