Former Ms. Magazine Editor Mary Thom Dead at 68 (AP / Huffington Post)
Prominent feminist Mary Thom, a writer and former editor of Ms. magazine who also was an avid motorcyclist, crashed while riding on a highway and was killed, her nephew said Saturday. She was 68. NYT Thom joined Ms. magazine in 1972 as an editor, rising to become executive editor in 1990. She was known as a journalistic virtuoso who shaped the writing of many of the feminist movement’s luminaries, including Gloria Steinem.  Ms. “We who are Mary’s friends and family haven’t absorbed her loss yet; it’s too sudden,” said Women’s Media Center co-founders Robin Morgan, Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda in a statement over the weekend. “Ms. magazine, the Women’s Media Center, the women’s movement and American journalism have suffered an enormous blow. Mary was and will always be our moral compass and steady heart.” FishbowlNY Thom lived for decades in New York City and served as an editor for Ms. for nearly 20 years before leaving the feminist magazine in 1992. The glossy, which began as an insert in New York magazine, became a feminist powerhouse read in the 1970s but struggled to leverage commercial success with its ideological voice.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

More than 80 percent of the mag is freelance-written, and proving yourself to the editors can mean future assignments — editors like to cultivate close relationships with proven writers. For example, a reporter in Albuquerque who had been covering the unsolved murders of local women for years recently penned a piece highlighting the fact that these women, who were often involved in prostitution and/or drugs, were not as valued as much as other women in society. A freelancer also pitched an interview with noted feminist writer Bell Hooks.

Got an idea you think is perfect for the mag? Find out how to break through in How To Pitch: Ms. [Mediabistro AvantGuild subscription required]

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.