Mary Thom

Mary Thom
Born	(1944-06-03)June 3, 1944 Akron, Ohio, United States
Died	April 26, 2013(2013-04-26) (aged 68) Yonkers, New York, United States
Occupation	Editor
Language	English
Nationality	American
Education	Bryn Mawr, 1966
Subject	Feminism, women's rights

Mary Thom (June 3, 1944 – April 26, 2013) was an American feminist, writer, and editor. She was one of the founding editors of Ms. magazine, and was an editor for the magazine for 20 years. In 1992, Thom left Ms. as the executive editor of the magazine. She wrote a book about the history of the magazine, Inside Ms. 25 Years of the Magazine and the Feminist Movement. in 1997. At the time of her death, she was an editor-in-chief of the Women's Media Center, a think-tank group. Gloria Steinem called her "one of the women's movement's best editors."

Early life and education

Thom was born in Akron, Ohio in 1944. Her father was an engineer who worked in the steel industry. Her mother was a homemaker. Thom listened to jazz and enjoyed Shakespeare. She credits these two interests at triggering her interest in activism. She graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1966. While there, she became involved in the anti-war and civil rights movements. She was a fundraiser for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

Career

Thom became an editor at Ms. in 1972. She became executive editor in 1990. When she started working at Ms. she created an evaluation system about politicians. It was a feature in the magazine. She quit in 1992.

Later life and death

Thom lived and worked in New York City and never married. She enjoyed motorcycles. She was the editor-in-chief of the Women's Media Center's features department. She also co-wrote a book about Bella Abzug with Suzanne Braun Levine. She was killed in a motorcycle accident in Yonkers, New York on April 26, 2013. Thom had picked up her 1996 Honda Magna 750 from winter storage when she veered into traffic upon entering a highway. She struck a vehicle and was struck by another.

Legacy

The Women's Media Center now sponsors the Mary Thom Art of Editing Award.

Further reading

• Thom, Mary (1987). Letters to Ms., 1972-1987. New York: Henry Holt. ISBN 9780805003840.
• Thom, Mary (1997). Inside Ms.: 25 years of the magazine and the feminist movement. New York: Henry Holt. ISBN 9780805037326.
• Thom, Mary; Levine, Suzanne Braun (2007). Bella Abzug: how one tough broad from the Bronx fought Jim Crow and Joe McCarthy-- : an oral history. New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux. ISBN 9780374531492.

External links

• Official profile from the Women's Media Center
• Interview with Mary Thom by Stephen McKiernan, Binghamton University Libraries Center for the Study of the 1960s, June 27, 2011