Gladys Medals Heldman ( born Gladys Medalie Heldman ; May 13, 1922 , New York - June 22, 2003 , Santa Fe, New Mexico ) is an American journalist, publisher and promoter of women's tennis. Gladys Heldman, the publisher of World Tennis magazine, was at the forefront of the women's professional tennis tour in the early 1970s and became a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1979.
| Gladys Heldman | |
|---|---|
| English Gladys heldman | |
 | |
| Date of Birth | |
| Place of Birth | |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
| A country | |
| Occupation | journalist , public figure |
| Father | |
| Spouse | Julius Heldman |
| Children | Julie Heldman |
| Awards and prizes | International Tennis Hall of Fame |
Biography
Youth and career
Gladys Medals was born in New York into an intelligent Jewish family. Her father, George Z. Medals, was a lawyer, her mother, Kerry, was a classic philologist . In 1939, Gladys entered Stanford University , where she graduated three years later as the holder of the Phi Beta Kappa key society [3] and the best student in the issue. A year later, she received a master 's degree in Middle Ages from the University of California at Berkeley [4] .
In 1942, even before entering the University of California, Gladys married Julius Heldman, professor of physical chemistry at the university [3] . Julius, a former US youth tennis champion [4] , instilled a love for this sport in his wife and, after giving birth to two daughters, Kerry and Julie , persuaded her to play tennis herself [3] . Gladys began performing in amateur tournaments at the age of 25 and achieved significant success. From 1949 to 1953 she participated in the US Championships , and in 1954 she played at Wimbledon . In 1951 and 1952, she was the first racket of Texas [4] , and in 1954 she took second place in the list of the strongest tennis players in the Southwestern United States [5] .
World Tennis and Women's Tennis Support
In 1953, Gladys Heldman launched the Houston Tennis magazine, five years later changing its name to World Tennis [6] . Describing this publication, Heldman called it "a magazine written by players and for players." In the early years of the magazine, Gladys was not only its chief editor, but also the art director and director of advertising. In the 1950s and 1960s, World Tennis popularized women's tennis and became a platform for the struggle for the equal rights of women in this sport [5] . At first, it was almost the only publication covering women's tennis competitions, which tennis historian Bad Collins would later call the “secret sport,” since they were almost never mentioned on radio, television, or the press [3] .
In 1959, Heldman’s involvement in tennis came to a new level after the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA, later USTA) decided to cancel the indoor women's US championship due to unprofitability [3] . Heldman acted as a sponsor of the competition, which ultimately broke records for profit [4] . In 1962, Heldman sponsored the participation in the US Championships in Forest Hills immediately 85 tennis players from abroad, and in 1969 financed the holding of three women's tennis tournaments [3] .
Professional Women's Tour
In the late 1960s, at the beginning of the Open Era in tennis , when prize money began to be paid for the results in tennis tournaments, their volume in men's and women's tennis was not comparable. The riot of the best tennis players against this inequality was led by Billy Jean King and her regular partner on the court of Rosemary Cazals . Gladys Heldman took the affair of women's tennis to heart. When King and Cazals threatened a boycott of the US Open in 1970, Heldman found an alternative solution: enlisting the support of her friend Philip Morris President Joseph Callman, she organized a separate women's tennis tournament in Houston ahead of the U.S. Open. The nine tennis players who participated in this tournament (including Julie Heldman, the youngest daughter of Gladys) became known as the “Houston Nine” (later “The First Nine”, the English Original Nine ). All of them signed symbolic one-dollar contracts with World Tennis [3] [7] .
After the Houston tournament, Heldman took over the organization of an already full-fledged female professional tour, named after one of the brands of Philip Morris cigarettes - Virginia Slims . Under the leadership of Heldman, the first female professional tours were organized in Europe (in 1971) and in Japan (in 1972). Women's fees began to grow, and in 1972 the first women's tournament with a prize fund of $ 100 thousand was already held in Boca Raton (Florida) [4] . In these early years, the men's tennis establishment took an irreconcilable position in relation to the separate development of female professional tennis: the Americans who were in the “first nine” were disqualified by the USTA, and female professionals were forbidden to represent their countries in the Federation Cup - the women's team world championship. Only after three years of struggle and several lawsuits was a compromise reached and the size of women's prizes at major tournaments was close to men's. However, part of the agreement reached in 1973 was the complete elimination of Heldman from the leadership of the women's professional tour. Shortly afterwards, she sold World Tennis magazine, by then the most popular and influential tennis magazine in the world, to CBS media holding [3] .
All these years, Gladys Heldman continued to participate in amateur competitions organized by the USTA. She was one of the top ten US tennis players in doubles over the age of 35 and over 45, and in 1979, she and Julie were among the leaders of the national tournament “mother plus daughter” [4] . After selling her magazine, she lived with her husband in Santa Fe [8] . In June 2003, Gladys, whose health was in decline by this time, shot herself [7] .
Recognition of Merit
The game successes of Gladys Heldman, and then her role in the popularization of women's tennis, were marked by numerous awards. In 1952, she received the USLTA Public Service Prize, the Association of Tennis Journalists of the USA in 1965, the World Championship Tennis annual professional tour prize, and award in 1982 [4] .
The name Gladys Heldman is listed on a number of sports halls of fame. Already in 1979, she became a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame for non-player services [5] . Since 1988, Heldman is a member of the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame, and since 1998, along with Julie's daughter, the Hall of Fame of the [4] . In 2001, the name Heldman was included in the lists of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame [6] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Collins B. The Bud Collins History of Tennis : An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book - 2 - New York City : New Chapter Press , 2010 .-- P. 588. - ISBN 978-0-942257-70-0
- ↑ 1 2 SNAC - 2010.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 June Sochen. Gladys Heldman . Jewish Women's Archive. Date of treatment December 13, 2015.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gladys M. Heldman . ITA Hall of Fame. Date of treatment December 13, 2015.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Biography on the website of the International Tennis Hall of Fame
- ↑ 1 2 Biography (English) on the website of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
- ↑ 1 2 Lena Williams. Gladys Heldman, 81, a Leader In Promoting Womens Tennis . The New York Times (June 25, 2003). Date of treatment December 13, 2015.
- ↑ Collins & Hollander, 1997 , p. 512.
Literature
- Gladys Heldman // Bud Collins' Tennis Encyclopedia / Bud Collins , Zander Hollander (Eds.). - Detroit, MI: Visible Ink Press, 1997 .-- P. 511-512. - ISBN 1-57859-000-0 .
Links
- Biography on the website of the International Tennis Hall of Fame