STOTT, (Charlotte) Mary 1907-2002

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born July 18, 1907, in Leicester, England; died September 16, 2002, in London, England. Journalist, activist, and author. As the editor of the Manchester Guardian's women's section from 1957 to 1972, Stott was an influential liberal voice in the British media. She first began working in the newspaper business at the age of seventeen, when her mother got her a job with the Leicester Mail. There, against her desires, she was assigned to writing for the women's page from 1927 to 1931. She moved to the Bolton Evening News in 1931, followed in 1933 by a position with the Co-operative Press, where she wrote about women's issues. With the onset of World War II and the subsequent shortage of men writers and editors, Stott was allowed the opportunity to be a sub-editor for the Manchester Evening News from 1945 to 1950. In 1957, after focusing her time on being a wife and mother for several years, she joined the staff at the Guardian. Although editing the women's page was supposed to be an assignment involving nothing more important than stories on fashion, cooking, sewing, and gossip, Stott transformed it into another type of animal altogether. She boldly included stories that were truly important to women, including articles on child care, depression, and domestic violence. Retiring from the Guardian in 1972, Stott continued to contribute articles for some time thereafter. However, she slso became more politically active, joining several women's groups, among them Women in Media, the National Association of Widows, where she was president from 1993 to 1995, and the Fawcett Society, for which she served as chairperson from 1980 to 1982. In 1981 she also joined the Social Democratic Party. Stott's work as a journalist helped pave the way for other women in the profession, and her courage in addressing important issues for women was instrumental in seeding a growing awareness of feminism at a time when women were still largely ignored by the media. Stott, who also loved to sing, paint, and play the piano, was the author of several books, including Ageing for Beginners (1981) and the memoirs Forgetting's No Excuse (1973) and Before I Go (1985). For her work as a journalist, she was made an officer in the Order of the British Empire in 1975 and was awarded an honorary D.Litt. from De Montfort University in 1996.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

BOOKS

Writers Directory, 16th edition, St. James (Detroit, MI), 2001.

PERIODICALS

Daily Post (Liverpool, England), September 20, 2002, p. 14.

Daily Telegraph (London, England), September 19, 2002.

Guardian (London, England), September 18, 2002, p. 20.

Independent (London, England), October 1, 2002, p. 20.

Scotsman, September 27, 2002, p. 18.

Times (London, England), September 19, 2002, p. 36.