Gloria Stavers

Gloria Stavers (October 3, 1927 – April 1, 1983) was the editor in chief of 16 Magazine. Her personality gave this teen celebrity magazine its stamp for many years. Stavers is credited with being one of the first women rock and roll journalists, but male editors, detractors and those who scoffed at teen or celebrity magazines sometimes called her " of the Inferior".

Very little is known of Stavers' childhood and adolescence. She was born Gloria Gurganus in Wilmington, North Carolina. She had married and divorced young, and moved to New York to pursue a modeling career. For a time she was involved socially with the "jet set" and was rumored to be involved romantically with baseball player Mickey Mantle. Health issues forced Stavers to give up modeling.

Stavers got her start at 16 Magazine in 1957 as a subscriptions clerk. She was initially paid 50 cents an hour. Stavers developed many of her ideas about how the magazine should be run by reading the fan letters from preteenaged girls writing to various celebrities in care of the magazine. As she read those letters, she remembered how she felt as a preteenager and what she most cared about at that age.

Stavers had no prior experience in journalism, nor did she possess a university degree, but she rose quickly through the ranks. She was promoted to the position of editor in chief, wherein she had unprecedented access to many of the top recording acts of the day. Although 16 Magazine had a staff of reporters on both coasts, Stavers wrote most of the magazine's feature articles herself. She also served as the magazine's chief photographer and shot numerous photographs of stars such as Paul Revere and the Raiders, Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits, The Rascals, and Jim Morrison; lead singer of The Doors.

...
Wikipedia