British journalist and political activist (1961)
Catherine Mayer
(born 24 January 1961) is an American-born British author and journalist, and the co-founder and President of the
Women's Equality Party
(WE) in the UK.
Early life
[
edit
]
Mayer was born in the US and later became
naturalised
as British.
[1]
She moved to Britain as a child when her father, the theatre historian
David Mayer
, came to research a book and later secured employment at
Manchester University
, where his students included
Ben Elton
and
Rik Mayall
. Her mother, Anne Mayer Bird, is prominent within theatre PR.
[2]
[3]
Mayer attended
Manchester High School for Girls
,
[4]
and studied English Literature and European Studies at the
University of Sussex
(1978?82).
[5]
One of her sisters is
The Young Ones
co-writer (with Mayall)
Lise Mayer
, while another is the theatre agent Cassie Mayer.
[2]
[3]
Career
[
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]
Mayer started her career at
The Economist
and has worked as a foreign correspondent at the German news weekly
Focus
.
[6]
[7]
Mayer was president of the Foreign Press Association in London from June 2003 until June 2005.
[2]
She worked at
Time
magazine from 2004 to April 2015, serving as
Time
'
s Editor at Large, Europe Editor, London Bureau Chief and Senior Editor.
[9]
Mayer began legal action against
Time
in July 2017 on the grounds of age and gender discrimination.
[10]
[11]
Her attorney was Dr.
Ann Olivarius
, a founding member of the Women's Equality Party, which was co-founded by Mayer (see below); Mayer and Olivarius were featured in a 2018
episode
of
Thomson Reuters
Legal UK & Ireland’s podcast series, "The Hearing." Mayer's lawsuit prompted other journalists to seek legal advice about sexual discrimination
[12]
and ended with an "amicable resolution" in 2018.
[13]
In 2011 Mayer wrote
Amortality: The Pleasures and Perils of Living Agelessly
about the pros and cons of people living longer.
[14]
Her 2015 biography of
Prince Charles
, published in the UK as
Charles: The Heart of a King
and in the US as
Born to Be King
,
[15]
generated worldwide headlines with its claims of dysfunction in the royal courts.
Clarence House
, which had facilitated access to the Prince, distanced itself from the book.
[16]
[17]
[18]
Mayer stood by the content.
[19]
The book was a
Sunday Times
Top Ten bestseller.
[20]
[21]
Mayer's non-fiction
Attack of the 50ft. Women
was published in 2017.
[22]
The book covers the benefits of
gender equality
and how it is being promoted in various countries,
[22]
[23]
and has been described as "a compelling feminist call to arms".
[24]
Her memoir
Good Grief
, which incorporates letters written by her mother and covers the death of both women's husbands and the coronavirus pandemic, was published by
HarperCollins
in December 2020,
[25]
[26]
with an updated paperback edition in February 2022.
[27]
Reviewing
Good Grief
in
The Observer
,
Kate Kellaway
called it "smart, upbeat and brimming with fortitude",
[28]
and those who also gave endorsements and praise included
Kate Mosse
, who described it as "a perfect book, specific and personal, but spot on about the universal nature of grief and how we grieve. Every page sings."
[29]
Women's Equality Party
[
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]
Mayer co-founded the
Women's Equality Party
with
Sandi Toksvig
in March 2015
[30]
[31]
and is its President.
[32]
The party has core objectives: equal representation, equal pay, equality in and through the media, equal education, equal health, shared opportunities in parenting and caregiving and an end to violence against women;
[33]
its first policy commitments were launched by the party's first leader,
Sophie Walker
, at
Conway Hall
on 20 October 2015.
[34]
[35]
In February 2018 Mayer stated: "The party also welcomed all genders. Everyone is born with a sex, usually, though not always, male or female. Gender is the product of social and cultural factors that can be changed. The very first policy document made clear that WE supported "the right of all to define their sex or gender or to reject gendered divisions as they choose."
[36]
The party won its first seat in the local elections in May 2019.
[37]
Mayer stood as the lead candidate for the party in the 2019 European Elections in London.
[32]
[38]
Primadonna Festival
[
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]
Mayer co-founded the Primadonna Festival in 2019, a festival of ideas, writing, music and comedy at Laffitt's Hall in
Pettaugh
, Suffolk, aiming to give prominence to women and to new voices.
[39]
[40]
[41]
The festival awards the
Primadonna Prize
"for unsigned and unrepresented new writing talent".
[42]
[43]
Personal life
[
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]
Mayer was married to the musician
Andy Gill
of
Gang of Four
, from 1999 until his death in February 2020.
[44]
[45]
Bibliography
[
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]
- Books
- Selected articles
- Video
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Alexander, Ella (2 April 2015).
"Will you support the Women's Equality Party?"
.
Glamour Magazine
.
Conde Nast Publications
. Archived from
the original
on 26 September 2015
. Retrieved
26 September
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
Halliburton, Rachel (8 January 2004).
"This woman can have Blair any time"
.
London Evening Standard
.
- ^
a
b
Langdon, Julia
(16 July 2007).
"I think it's amazing how unequal we are"
.
The Guardian
.
- ^
Epstein, Angela (13 October 2015).
"Why are feminists so unpleasant to women?"
.
The Telegraph
.
Telegraph Media Group
.
- ^
"Four leading alumni return to Sussex for panel debate on women in arts leadership"
, Broadcast, University of Sussex, 30 January 2018.
- ^
Sexton, David (4 February 2015).
"
'Prince Charles has the loneliest existence I've ever witnessed': Catherine Mayer on her new biography of the future king"
.
London Evening Standard
.
- ^
Blumen, Danielle (29 November 2009).
"Time for women in the media (blog)"
.
Polis
.
London School of Economics
.
- ^
Catherine Mayer talks about Amortality
(
YouTube
).
Ebury Press
(Vermilion). 13 April 2011.
- ^
Greenslade, Roy
(3 February 2012).
"Mayer rocks on with Time promotion"
.
The Guardian
.
- ^
Graham-Harrison, Emma (5 August 2017).
"Top journalist sues Time magazine for 'sex and age discrimination'
"
.
The Observer
. Retrieved
6 August
2017
.
- ^
"Former editor Catherine Mayer sues Time magazine for sex and age discrimination"
, CBC Radio, 4 September 2017.
- ^
Bragman, Walker (18 October 2017).
"Newsweek Journalists Weigh Sex Discrimination Suit Against Magazine"
.
HuffPost UK
. Retrieved
7 August
2019
.
- ^
Thorpe, Vanessa; Graham-Harrison, Emma (8 September 2018).
"Sandi Toksvig sparks new gender pay row over QI fee"
.
The Observer
.
ISSN
0029-7712
. Retrieved
7 August
2019
.
- ^
York, Peter
(13 May 2011).
"A user's guide to age"
.
The Independent
. Independent Print Ltd.
- ^
Swanson, Clare (5 November 2014).
"New Prince Charles bio coming from Holt"
.
Publishers Weekly
.
- ^
Staff writer (4 February 2015).
"Prince Charles 'understands limitations' of Crown"
.
BBC News
.
- ^
Agency (16 February 2015).
"Duchess of Cornwall comes face-to-face with author of controversial Prince Charles book"
.
The Telegraph
. Telegraph Media Group.
- ^
Morgan, Sally (20 February 2015). "As Royal aides question a new biography of the Prince of Wales its author Catherine Mayer tells Hello! why she stands by every word".
Hello!
.
- ^
Sherwin, Adam
(3 February 2015).
"Catherine Mayer, author of controversial Charles biography: 'I was a republican but now I'm a monarchist'
"
.
The Independent
.
- ^
Staff writer (5 February 2015).
Charles: The Heart of a King
. Random House.
ISBN
9780753550809
.
- ^
Charles: The Heart of a King
Archived
16 March 2018 at the
Wayback Machine
at Penguin Books.
- ^
a
b
Shaffi, Sarah (March 2017).
"From feminist novels to explorations of love: the most enthralling new reads for March"
.
Stylist
.
- ^
Driscoll, Brogan (8 March 2017).
"Catherine Mayer, Women's Equality Party Co-Founder, On Why We Need To 'Seize The Turbulence' Of 2017"
.
Huffington Post
.
- ^
Sweeney, Tanya (2 April 2017),
'Why issue of gender equality still looms large'
,
Irish Independent
.
- ^
Brooks, Richard (5 July 2020).
"A tale of two widows: the mother and daughter united by grief in the time of Covid-19"
.
The Observer
.
- ^
Mayer, Catherine (30 December 2020).
"We must not wish this bleak year away"
.
New Statesman
.
- ^
Thorpe, Vanessa (16 January 2022).
"Widow of Gang of Four guitarist Andy Gill reveals how she was ambushed by bereavement"
.
The Observer
.
- ^
Kellaway, Kate (7 March 2021).
"The Mahogany Pod; One Thousand Days and One Cup of Tea; Good Grief ? reviews"
.
The Observer
.
- ^
"GOOD GRIEF: Embracing life at a time of death"
.
catherinemayer.co.uk
.
- ^
Staff writer (20 April 2015).
"Londoner's Diary: Women's party is ready to be a player"
.
London Evening Standard
.
- ^
Cocozza, Paula (28 August 2015).
"Women's Equality party founders: 'It needed doing. So we said, "Let's do it"'
"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
21 September
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Proctor, Kate (16 May 2019).
"Women's Equality Party takes a swipe at notorious Ukip poster"
.
Evening Standard
. Retrieved
7 August
2019
.
- ^
Peaker, Hannah (29 November 2016).
"Why health equality is the next goal for the Women's Equality party | Hannah Peaker"
.
The Guardian
.
ISSN
0261-3077
. Retrieved
7 August
2019
.
- ^
"Women's Equality Party announces first policies and campaigns"
.
Women's Equality Party
. 20 October 2015
. Retrieved
21 October
2015
.
- ^
Minter, Harriet (21 October 2015).
"The Women's Equality Party launch is not a moment too soon"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
21 October
2015
.
- ^
Mayer, Catherine (22 February 2018).
"We need to have difficult debates. We need to find better ways to have them (blog)"
.
catherinemayer.co.uk
. Retrieved
23 February
2018
.
- ^
Mayer, Catherine (25 July 2019).
"Don't despair over Boris Johnson ? it's time for hope"
.
The Guardian
.
ISSN
0261-3077
. Retrieved
7 August
2019
.
- ^
Mayer, Catherine (13 May 2019).
"Why is Nigel Farage all over the airwaves while my party barely gets a look-in? - Catherine Mayer"
.
The Guardian
.
ISSN
0261-3077
. Retrieved
7 August
2019
.
- ^
Thorpe, Vanessa (30 March 2019).
"New literary festival feeds growing appetite for female-led cultural events"
.
The Observer
.
ISSN
0029-7712
. Retrieved
7 August
2019
.
- ^
Mayer, Catherine (3 April 2019).
"Why we're launching Primadonna, the inclusive literary festival that will make our world a better place"
.
The Telegraph
.
ISSN
0307-1235
. Retrieved
7 August
2019
.
- ^
Clarke, Andrew (1 May 2019).
"Sandi Toksvig and leading women writers create a family-friendly Primadonna Festival in Suffolk"
.
East Anglian Daily Times
. Retrieved
7 August
2019
.
- ^
"Primadonna Prize"
.
primadonnafestival.com
. Retrieved
14 January
2024
.
- ^
Mansfield, Katie (24 May 2019).
"Primadonna Festival launches inaugural writing prize"
.
The Bookseller
. Retrieved
14 January
2024
.
- ^
Gill, Andy (18 September 2009).
"Andy Gill meets Andy Gill"
.
The Independent
.
- ^
Pareles, Jon
(1 February 2020).
"Andy Gill, Radical Guitarist With Gang of Four, Dies at 64"
.
The New York Times
.
External links
[
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]