Claudia Cockburn Flanders,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(11 February 1933 – 25 June 1998) was an American-British disability activist who spent much of her working life in the United Kingdom. Her parents were

Claud Cockburn Francis Claud Cockburn ( ; 12 April 1904 – 15 December 1981) was a British journalist. His saying "believe nothing until it has been officially denied" is widely quoted in journalistic studies, but he did not claim credit for origina ...

, a journalist, and Hope Hale Davis. She married singer-songwriter

Michael Flanders Michael Henry Flanders (1 March 1922 – 14 April 1975) was an English actor, broadcaster, writer and performer of comic songs. He is best known for his stage partnership with Donald Swann. As a young man Flanders seemed to be heading for a ...

in 1959. Her stepmother, by her father's remarriage, was

Jean Ross Jean Iris Ross Cockburn (; 7 May 1911 – 27 April 1973) was a British people, British journalist, political activist, and Film criticism, film critic. During the Spanish Civil War (1936–39), she was a war correspondent for the ''Daily Expres ...

, the reported inspiration for

Christopher Isherwood Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood (26 August 1904 – 4 January 1986) was an Anglo-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist. His best-known works include '' Goodbye to Berlin'' (1939), a semi-autobiographical ...

's iconic character

Sally Bowles Sally Bowles () is a fictional character created by English-American novelist Christopher Isherwood and based upon 19-year-old cabaret singer Jean Ross. The character debuted in Isherwood's 1937 novella ''Sally Bowles'' published by Hogarth Pre ...

. Through her father, she was the half-sister of mystery writer

Sarah Caudwell Sarah Cockburn (27 May 1939 – 28 January 2000), who wrote under the pseudonym of Sarah Caudwell, was a British barrister and author of detective stories. Her series of four murder stories written between 1980 and 1999 centered on a group of y ...

, Ross's daughter, Irish journalists

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

Andrew Andrew is the English form of the given name, common in many countries. The word is derived from the , ''Andreas'', itself related to ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "c ...

and

Patrick Cockburn Patrick Oliver Cockburn ( ; born 5 March 1950) is a journalist who has been a Middle East correspondent for the ''Financial Times'' since 1979 and, from 1990, ''The Independent''. He has also worked as a correspondent in Moscow and Washington ...

, and paternal aunt of actress

Olivia Wilde Olivia Wilde (born Olivia Jane Cockburn, , March 10, 1984) is an American actress and director. She played Thirteen (House), Remy "Thirteen" Hadley on the medical-drama television series ''House (TV series), House'' (2007–2012), and appeared ...

(née Cockburn), including Wilde's siblings. Through her mother, she was the half-sister of the American writer

Lydia Davis Lydia Davis (born July 15, 1947) is an American short story writer, novelist, essayist, and translator from French and other languages, who often writes very short stories. Davis has produced several new translations of French literary classics ...

. In 1987, Flanders formed Tripscope, an organisation to help disabled people with transportation difficulties. She created the post of adviser on disability to the

National Bus Company (UK) The National Bus Company (NBC) was a nationalisation, nationalised bus company that operated in England and Wales between 1969 and 1988. NBC did not run buses itself, but was the owner of a number of regional subsidiary bus operating companies ...

in the 1970s and served for many years on the national Joint Committee on Mobility for Disabled People and the

Department of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

Advisory Committee on Disability in the UK. She was awarded an

in 1981 for her services to disabled people.

Death

She died in London on 25 June 1998, aged 65. Her daughters are the journalists Laura and

Stephanie Flanders Stephanie Hope Flanders (born 5 August 1968) is a British economist and journalist, currently the head of Economics and Politics at Bloomberg News. She was previously chief market strategist for Britain and Europe for J.P. Morgan Asset Manageme ...

. In 1999, a special award for improved accessibility for UK buses operators was started in her memory under the UK Bus Awards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cockburn, Claudia 1933 births 1998 deaths Activists from New York City American expatriates in England American people of Scottish descent British expatriates in the United States British disability rights activists American disability rights activists English people of Scottish descent People in bus transport Officers of the Order of the British Empire Cockburn family

Death

See also

References