Anderson, Doris (1921—)

Canadian journalist, novelist, and editor of the magazine Chatelaine. Born Doris Hilda McCubbin on November 10, 1921, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada; daughter of Thomas and Rebecca (Laycock) McCubbin; educated at the University of Alberta; married David Anderson (a lawyer), on May 24, 1957 (divorced 1972); children: three sons, Peter, Stephen, and Mitchell.

Selected works:

Two Women (1978); Rough Layout (1981); The Unfinished Revolution: The Status of Women in Twelve Countries (1991). Editor of the magazine Chatelaine from 1958 to 1977.

Born and raised in Western Canada, Doris Anderson was educated in public schools, then attended the University of Alberta, graduating in 1945. Though she had begun publishing in magazines at the age of 16, her first job came the year after her graduation, as a journalist for Star Weekly. She then worked as a copywriter for a publishing company until 1951, when she joined the staff of Chatelaine, a magazine of fashion and opinion for women. By 1958, she was the magazine's editor, a position she would hold for 18 years, through her marriage to and divorce from David Anderson and the birth of their three sons.

In 1977, she left Chatelaine and worked for a brief period as president of the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women. Her disappointment with the literary heroines available to women inspired Anderson's first novel Two Women (1978). After another novel, Rough Layout, in 1981, she turned her attention to nonfiction. Her interest in the status of women throughout the world led to the writing of The Unfinished Revolution, an examination of the personal, professional, and cultural places of women in 12 countries.

Crista Martin , Boston, Massachusetts