Interview with Mary Crozier, journalist for the Guardian. Conducted by Leslie Plommer on 23 April 1998. Also includes a summary of contents and transcript.
Summary contents of interview (with rough timings):
Disc 1:
Track 1
00.00 Introductions
00.27 *
01.00 Grew up with the Guardian as her father WP Crozier had worked there
02.30 Seeing the working day at the Guardian whilst a child
05.00 System of the corridor at the newspaper
06.40 Attended Oxford University
07.00 Began writing articles for newspaper in 1928 on Oxford topics
07.37 Writing remotely
08.00 Her fathers development of a technical column on radio
08.30 In 1931 she started work on radio criticism
09.00 Worked in a freelance capacity for the newspaper
10.35 During Second World War her husband was in the Army and she moved from Manchester. Kept up radio criticism articles whilst living in the country
11.20 Following the death of her father in 1944 she was asked to join the Guardian staff as critic
12.10 In 1946 she became letters editor
12.30 Few female contributors. Madeline Linford in charge of the women's page
13.10 Remembers Helena Swanwick
14.00 Remembers Linford as being intelligent having joined the newspaper very young
14.40 Linford sent to cover postwar famine in Poland and Eastern Europe
15.30 Remembers back page columns
16.40 Nesta Roberts a contributor to back page columns. Roberts the first woman to be appointed to reporters room
19.00 Discusses radio criticism and the expansion of radio
21.00 Support for the BBC Third Programme
22.00 Choosing radio programmes to listen to
24.25 Process of copy being viewed before printing
26.30 Introduction to television criticism
27.15 Remembers holding a staff Coronation party in 1953 as she was one of the few people who had a television set
29.30 Remembers Roland [Cragg?], one of the first motoring correspondents
30.20 Discusses letters to the editor
32.50 Size of the paper following the War
33.15 Training for the job with Bob Garner
34.15 Rule that they did not publish letters also received by the Telegraph and the Times
35.30 How to choose letters for the newspaper
38.20 The readers right to reply
38.50 Religion excluded as a letter subject
40.45 Remembers AP Wadsworth
43.00 How involved the editors were in the letters pages
45.30 Wadsworth's advice on having to print a letter he didn't like
Disc 2:
Track 1
00.15 Alastair Hetherington's appointment as editor
03.00 Regular correspondents on certain subjects
04.00 Remembers Harold Laski, a frequent writer to the letters page
05.45 Fondly remembers a Staffordshire MP who used to submit letters
06.55 Remembers fight with Randolph Churchill on the phone regarding the use of a letter he submitted
09.45 Complaints over the use of letters
10.30 Sending copy to composing room via messenger boys
12.55 Her work for Country diary
14.00 Search for lost editors leader copy
17.20 Last meeting with CP Scott
17.40 *
20.20 Remembers John Edward Mossey, secretary to CP Scott
21.25 On Wigan Jim, Guardian messenger
23.00 Remembers seeing the pony traps outside Guardian offices whilst a child
25.40 Present at Cross Street during royal visit from King George
28.00 Excitement when chimney caught fire at thatched house
29.35 No Guardian canteen during her fathers time
30.15 Breaks at the newspaper. Sending messenger boys to collect food from canteen
32.48 Reading your own pages in the first edition of newspaper to check for errors
34.50 Deputy on miscellany pages
36.50 Remembers Neville Cardus, who wrote under the pseudonym 'Cricketer'
40.00 Writing leaders pages
Sans titre