Dorothy Hayden

Dorothy Hayden Truscott (November 3, 1925 – July 4, 2006) was an American bridge player, winner of four world championships and the top-ranked woman for many years. She wrote two books on the game in the 1960s and later co-wrote two with her husband Alan Truscott.

Truscott was born as Dorothy Johnson in New York City. Her parents, Dorothy and Reginald Johnson, were keen bridge players and taught their daughter the game when she was 7 years old. Truscott would normally watch her mother play the game, but her father would allow her to bid and play his hand when he poured drinks. One evening a player was late, and she was allowed to fill in. That introduction made her a "bridge addict" for the remainder of her life.

She graduated from Smith College and briefly taught mathematics in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Her first two marriages ended in divorce. Her third, in 1972, was to Alan Truscott, bridge journalist for The New York Times.

Truscott died in New Russia, New York, of complications from Parkinson's disease.

She won her first "national championships" in 1959 as Dorothy Hayden, the Mixed Pairs with John Crawford and the Women Pairs with Betty Goldberg. She won four world titles as a player: the Venice Cup in 1974, 1976 and 1978, and the World Women Team Olympiad in 1980. She was the non-playing captain of the winning American Venice Cup team in 1989.

In 1965 (as Dorothy Hayden), Truscott became the second woman to play for North America or the United States in the Bermuda Bowl world championship tournament for open teams. (As for Helen Sobel in 1957, her team finished second to Italy.) She was one of the main accusers in a major bridge scandal that involved allegations of cheating brought against the British pair of Terence Reese and Boris Schapiro.

...
Wikipedia