Susanne Puddefoot (3 October 1934 – 13 September 2010) was an English journalist,

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

and charity

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

. She was the first editor of the '' Times'' women's page.

Biography

Puddefoot was born in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

to Lillian (née Frankland) and

Syd Puddefoot Sydney Charles Puddefoot (17 October 1894 – 2 October 1972) was an English footballer who played for West Ham United, Falkirk and Blackburn Rovers. He played mainly as a centre forward or inside right. He was also a cricketer for Essex. ...

, a football manager who had previously played professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

for West Ham United,

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

and Blackburn Rovers. Her father had been managing in Turkey at Galatasaray, but they moved back to England for the birth. She was educated at Blackpool Collegiate School for Girls between 1945 and 1953 and then read medieval and modern languages (French and German) at Girton College, Cambridge. There, she was assistant editor of '' Granta'' and was involved with '' Varsity'' alongside the likes of Michael Winner,

Gavin Lyall Gavin Tudor Lyall (9 May 1932 – 18 January 2003) was an English author of espionage thrillers. Biography Lyall was born in Birmingham, then in Warwickshire (now West Midlands), England, as the son of a local accountant, and educated at King E ...

and Michael Frayn. In 1956, she worked as a reporter and feature writer for the ''

Lancashire Evening Post The ''Lancashire Evening Post'' is a daily newspaper based in Fulwood, a suburb of the city of Preston, Lancashire, England. According to the British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of th ...

'', before moving into the advertising industry with Young & Rubicam, Mather & Crowther and Colman, Prentis and Varley. She was also a film critic for the '' Times Educational Supplement''. In 1959, she married George Perry, whom she had worked under at ''Granta'', and who later worked on the editorial team of '' The Sunday Times Colour Magazine''. Appointed by Sir William Haley, she joined ''The Times'' in 1966 and was the first to edit the newly conceived Women's Page. Her tenure oversaw a 30% increase in readership for the paper and the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'' described the page as "currently the best thing in British journalism". Amongst her recruitments to the paper were

Katie Stewart Katharine Elizabeth Allen Stewart (23 July 1934 – 13 January 2013) was a British cookery writer whose columns in ''The Times'' made her a household name in the 1960s and 1970s. After training at the Westminster Hotel School, she worked as nan ...

and Suzy Menkes. She left ''The Times'' in 1969, after nearly four years at the paper, and became involved with the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at the University of Birmingham. In 1970, she was published in

Richard Boston Richard Boston (29 December 1938 – 22 December 2006) was an English journalist and author, a rigorous dissenter and a belligerent pacifist. An anarchist, toper, raconteur, marathon runner and practical joker, he described his pastimes as "so ...

's journalism critique ''The Press We Deserve''. She suffered from

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

and worked for mental health charity

Mind The mind is the set of faculties responsible for all mental phenomena. Often the term is also identified with the phenomena themselves. These faculties include thought, imagination, memory, will, and sensation. They are responsible for various m ...

as a director between 1992 and 1996, and again between 2000 and 2006. In later life, she moved to Stonehouse, Plymouth where she died, aged 75, of pneumonia.

Awards

She won a Special Award at the

British Press Awards The Press Awards, formerly the British Press Awards, is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best of British journalism. History Established in 1962 by ''The People'' and '' World's Press News'', the first award ceremony for the then-named '' ...

in 1967.

References

External links

Photograph, National Portrait Gallery
by

Madame Yevonde Yevonde Philone Middleton (née Cumbers; 5 January 1893 – 22 December 1975) was an English photographer, who pioneered the use of colour in portrait photography. She used the professional name Madame Yevonde. Early life Educated at the lib ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puddefoot, Susanne 1934 births 2010 deaths People from Blackpool Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge English film critics British women film critics English newspaper editors British women editors Women newspaper editors 20th-century British journalists The Times journalists People with bipolar disorder Deaths from pneumonia in England Women's page journalists