Journalist, playwright, and founder of Mary Seacole Foundation Sonia Mills died at Andrews Memorial Hospital in the Corporate Area on Monday, September 15, 2025, just over a week after marking her 86th birthday.

Mills, who was also an educator, gained a reputation in local and international spheres as an advocate and supporter of the arts, women’s issues, and inclusive national development who was fearless in her defence of basic human dignity for all.

Born Sonia Lee McPherson on September 6, 1939, in Annotto Bay, St Mary, Mills attended Wolmer’s Girls’ School in Kingston and later studied politics at Sciences Po in Paris.

She began her professional career as a journalist working in London under the legendary Claudia Jones, after which she moved to the Daily Gleaner — alongside her dear friend Barbara Gloudon — then to the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation, and later at the United Nations in New York.

While living in New York, Mills also worked with the International Women’s Tribune Centre, an organisation focused on women’s issues.

On returning to Jamaica, she became bureau chief for the global news agency Inter Press Service after which she worked for well-known media production company Mediamix.

While working as a journalist in the 1960s, she also began writing radio plays. She co-wrote Life in Hopeful Village with Elaine Perkins, before going on to write her own series in Jamaica and in The Bahamas.

Mills also wrote for the theatre, collaborating with good friend Trevor Rhone on the 1967 play It’s Not My Fault Baby. The following year she penned, along with husband Don, the Little Theatre Movement national pantomime Anancy and Doumbey, starring Louise “Miss Lou” Bennett and Ranny Williams. Her career as a playwright continued intermittently for decades, later collaborating again with Rhone on the musical
Pepper and then writing another radio serial, Nora’s by The Sea.

Throughout her professional life, Mills was extensively involved in the publishing industry as an author, ghostwriter, editor, and consultant for many local, regional, and international publications. For decades she was the main local producer for Macmillan Publishers’ educational books and content, working on projects such as the Reggae Readers series, now used in primary and preparatory schools.

Mills also authored, contributed to, and edited many publications, including Rise Up Singing the
autobiography of Jamaican-born bass-baritone opera singer Sir Willard White; Ray Chen’s The Shopkeepers: Commemorating 150 Years of the Chinese in Jamaica, 1854-2004; and Light of the Sun: The Story of Wolmer’s Girls’ School.

During her tenure at Environmental Foundation of Jamaica Mills oversaw the restoration of Hope Gardens.

She also lent invaluable support to the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports, and Education (CHASE) Fund and was instrumental in facilitating a range of innovative social development grants.

Her social consciousness knew no boundaries as she was a founding volunteer member of the Marcus Garvey Liberty Hall restoration effort.

One of her most unforgettable contributions was her passion and commitment to recognising the life and work of the pioneering Jamaican-born British nurse and businesswoman Mary Seacole who gained fame for her nursing work during the Crimean War and for publishing the first autobiography written by a black woman in Britain.

Mills created the Mary Seacole Foundation which celebrates Seacole’s life and legacy and supports nursing, female entrepreneurship and education. The foundation was also instrumental in getting November 23 officially recognised as Mary Seacole Day in Jamaica.

Mills is survived by daughter Mischa, son Damon, grandson Oscar, son-in-law Kurt, daughter-in-law Seow Fong, and many friends who have long become family.

Her husband, Ambassador Don Mills, pre-deceased her in 2015.