WiJ remembers Barbara Taylor Bradford
It was a mighty long way from 15-year-old junior in the Yorkshire Evening Post typing pool to a multi-million pound fortune and induction into the Writers Hall of Fame of America.
But, like one of her fictional heroines, Barbara Taylor Bradford barnstormed it. She was THE woman of substance.
And this week, after the death of the bestselling author aged 91, Women in Journalism remembered the inspiration Barbara was to those who followed her.
“I’m a journalist down to the very bottom of my toes,’ Barbara said when five years ago today (NOV 26th) she received Women In Journalism’s inaugural Lifetime Achievement award.
“I started off in the reporters’ room at the Yorkshire Evening Post in 1948 and I was the only girl working in it. Luckily, I was able to be the journalist that I’d always dreamed of becoming as I had the support of the editor Barry Horniblow, journalist Keith Waterhouse, my sharp-witted mentor, along with other writers like Willis Hall.
“A few years later, I made it to Fleet Street but I remember I was still the only woman working in the newsroom at the time and it would have been amazing to have an organisation like Women in Journalism to support me as a female writer who wanted to go places.’
Barbara’s desire to ‘go places’ was what lay behind an extraordinary career.
She was born in Armley, Leeds the daughter of Freda who had spent time in a workhouse and Winston, who lost a leg in the First World War. She understood adversity - and the hard work required to overcome it.
The young Barbara was an avid reader, visiting her local library and devouring Dickens, Bronte and the classics. She began writing her own stories and leapt at the opportunity for a job at her local paper, The Yorkshire Evening Post.
Within months she had been promoted to cub reporter in a newsroom almost entirely populated by men at a time of hard work, hard drinking and harder smoking.
Surrounded by such legends of the industry as Peter O’Toole and Keith Waterhouse, Barbara learned quickly.
She was appointed Women’s Editor at still just 18. And two years later she set off for London to be fashion editor of Woman’s Own and then on to her own column in the Evening News.
In London she met her adored husband Robert Bradford, the German born Hollywood film and TV producer, on a blind date.
Moving with Bob to the United States, Barbara was able to focus on her dream of writing. First she tried nonfiction including such titles as How to Be a Perfect Wife. But her dream was to pursue fiction.
Then in 1979 she created the heroine who would become her world famous ‘Woman of Substance’ - Emma Harte. The book was an instant success, selling 32m copies. It stayed on the New York Times’ list for 43 weeks and is ranked in the top ten bestselling works of fiction of all time. The novel told the story of a 16-year-old kitchen maid forced to make her way in the world amid endless misfortune. Emma’s strength of character saw her rise to become the controller of a global empire. It was a tale of female empowerment against the odds with so many comparisons to Barbara’s own life - and readers loved it.
In 1985, it was adapted as an Emmy-nominated television mini-series starring Jenny Seagrove and Liam Neeson and was aired by Channel 4 over three nights. The broadcast drew 13.8 million viewers, which remains the channel’s highest ever audience.
More Emma Harte books followed and Barbara went on to write a total of 40 novels, featuring the strong women that her readers demanded. She sold more than 90m copies across 40 countries. It brought her a life of extreme wealth and comfort including an Upper East Side penthouse in New York. But she never forgot the Yorkshire childhood which formed her.
Her last book, The Wonder of It All, was published only last year.
Barbara was appointed OBE in 2007 and returned to the UK frequently.
When she addressed Women in Journalism she spoke lovingly of her husband Bob, who had died earlier in 2019.
Maria Boyle, Barbara’s personal PR for 15 years, and a Women in Journalism committee member, said: ‘When Barbara was in town, she loved meeting editors and writers, and they loved meeting her. Proud of her roots as a journalist and passionate about supporting press freedom, she was refreshingly no-nonsense, consistently gave engaging interviews, and always left a lasting impression. She was a dream to work with.
‘One journalist recently asked what she would want on her epitaph, her reply was simple: 'She made her dreams come true.' And she truly did."
At that evening Women in Journalism gala evening five yeras ago, our founder Eve Pollard said: ‘WIJ is delighted to honour Barbara Taylor Bradford for her indomitable spirit and her devotion to work.’
May that indomitable spirit continue to be an inspiration to all women journalists for many years to come.