Malvina Reynolds (née Milder; August 23, 1900 – March 17, 1978)[1] was an American folk/blues singer-songwriter and political activist, best known for her songwriting, particularly the songs "Little Boxes", "What Have They Done to the Rain" and "Morningtown Ride".

Reynolds went on to write several popular songs, including "Little Boxes" (1962), recorded by Seeger, Chilean singer Víctor Jara,[6] and others, "What Have They Done to the Rain" (1962), recorded by the Searchers, the Seekers, Marianne Faithfull, Melanie Safka and Joan Baez (about nuclear fallout),[1] "It Isn't Nice" (1964) (a civil rights anthem), "Turn Around" (1959) (about children growing up, later sung by Harry Belafonte), and "There's a Bottom Below" (about depression).

Reynolds was also a noted composer of children's songs, including "Love Is Something (Magic Penny)" and "Morningtown Ride" (1957), a top-5 UK single (December 1966) recorded by the Seekers.

When Time Magazine (I think, maybe Newsweek) wanted a photo of her pointing to the very place, she couldn't find those houses because so many more had been built around them that the hillsides were totally covered.

[7]In her later years, Reynolds contributed songs and material to PBS' Sesame Street, on which she made occasional appearances as a character named Kate.

[9] In 1977, Reynolds became an associate of the Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press (WIFP), an American non-profit publishing organization.

However, she refused to let the disease keep her from her usual performance schedule, until she fell ill in the afternoon of March 15, 1978, after a photo shoot in Berkeley.

Reynolds' career was the subject of a biographical short film, Love It Like a Fool, released during her lifetime in 1977 and directed by Susan Wengraf.