Mary Thom (1944–2013)

Mary Thom was an American feminist, writer, and editor. She was born on June 3, 1944, in Ohio. 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. Thom was show more one of the founders of Ms. magazine and an editor for the magazine for 20 years. In 1992, she left Ms. as the executive editor of the magazine. She wrote a book about the history of the magazine entitled, Inside Ms. 25 Years of the Magazine and the Feminist Movement. At the time of her death in 2013, 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." Thom also co-edited an oral history of former congresswoman and feminist Bella Abzug; the book was called, Bella Abzug: How One Tough Broad from the Bronx Fought Jim Crow and Joe McCarthy, Pissed Off Jimmy Carter, Battled for the Rights of Women and ... Planet, and Shook Up Politics Along the Way. Thom died in a motorcycle accident in Yonkers, NY, on April 26, 2013. She enjoyed riding and owned a 1996 Honda Magna. (Bowker Author Biography) show less