MOUNT DESERT ISLAND – Louisa Livingston Kennedy, who was an eloquent spokeswoman for the families of the 52 American hostages held in Iran, died Aug. 19 on Mount Desert Island. She was 73 years old.

As wife of Moorhead Kennedy, a U.S. diplomat held hostage for 444 days by a group of Iranian students during the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Iran between 1979 and 1981, Kennedy became a voice for the hostages’ families and a face of courage and dignity to all Americans.

She served with her husband in his foreign office posts abroad. During that tenure, she wrote for a newspaper in Greece and directed plays in Lebanon and Chile. Her production of the children’s play “Androcles and the Lion” in Beirut attracted both Muslim and Christian families.

A native of New York City, Kennedy was the daughter of the late Goodhue Livingston Jr., who served as a top aide to Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, and the granddaughter of architect Goodhue Livingston Sr.

Kennedy is survived by her husband, four sons and six grandchildren.