Marilyn Elaine Van Derbur (born June 16, 1937) is an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, motivational speaker, and

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

titleholder. In July 1957, she was crowned

Miss Colorado The Miss Colorado competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Colorado in the Miss America pageant. Colorado has won the Miss America crown on three occasions. Savannah Cavanaugh of Beaver Creek, Colorado was ...

1957. On September 7, 1957, she was crowned

Miss America 1958 Miss America 1958, the 31st Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 7, 1957 on CBS. The winner, Marilyn Van Derbur, who was a Phi Beta Kappa Society, Phi Beta Kappa scholar at the University ...

in Atlantic City, New Jersey, by the outgoing Miss America 1957,

Marian McKnight Marian McKnight (born December 19, 1936) is an American actress, model and former beauty pageant winner. She was crowned Miss America in 1957. Pageantry She earned the 1957 Miss America title with a Marilyn Monroe act in the talent portion. Sh ...

Biography

Early life and education

Marilyn Van Derbur was born on June 16, 1937 in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

., the youngest of four daughters to a family in the Denver mortuary business. (The lighted cross on Mount Lindo southwest of Denver was built so Van Derbur's grandmother could see her husband's final resting place from her home in Park Hill.) She attended East High School, graduating in 1955, and the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

, where she earned a degree in English literature with

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

honors in 1960.

Pageantry

During her sophomore year of college, Van Derbur was nominated to represent

Pi Beta Phi Pi Beta Phi (), often known simply as Pi Phi, is an international women's fraternity founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois on April 28, 1867 as I. C. Sorosis, the first national secret college society of women to be modeled after ...

in the Miss University of Colorado pageant. After being crowned Miss University of Colorado in May 1957, she competed in and was crowned

in July 1957. On September 7, 1957, she was crowned

in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Career

After graduation, she moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

where she was the television spokeswoman for

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...

's ''

The Bell Telephone Hour ''The Bell Telephone Hour'' (also known as ''The Telephone Hour'') is a concert series that began April 29, 1940, on NBC Radio, and was heard on NBC until June 30, 1958. Sponsored by Bell Telephone as the name implies, it showcased the best in ...

'' and hosted 10 episodes of '' Candid Camera''. She was the television hostess for the Miss America Pageant for five years. Van Derbur worked as a public speaker throughout her career. She established the Marilyn Van Derbur Motivational Institute in 1975, where she produced a series of 30-minute motivational films shown at business meetings and conventions. When Van Derbur was 53, she revealed that she had experienced child incestuous abuse from age 5 to 18, perpetrated by her father. Her story was featured on the cover of ''People'' magazine in June 1991. She and her husband provided initial funding for an adult incest survivor program at

The Kempe Center C. Henry Kempe (birth name Karl Heinz Kempe; April 6, 1922 in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland) – March 3, 1984 in Hanauma Bay, Hawaii) was an American pediatrician and the first in the medical community to identify and recognize chi ...

, and she founded the Survivors United Network.

Marriage and children

Following a brief marriage in 1961 to former University of Colorado football player Gary Nady, Van Derbur married her high school boyfriend Lawrence "Larry" Atler in 1964. The couple has a daughter, Jennifer.

Legacy

In 2021, Van Derbur announced she would be auctioning her Miss America crown and bracelet to benefit Denver Public Schools.

Published works

*''Miss America By Day'' (Oak Hill Ridge Press, 2003)

Recognition

* 1955: Seventeen's Miss Young America * 1957:

* 1958: Miss America * 1996: inductee,

Colorado Women's Hall of Fame The Colorado Women's Hall of Fame is a non-profit, volunteer organization that recognizes women who have contributed to the history of the U.S. state of Colorado. As of 2020, 170 women have been inducted. History There was a short-lived recogniti ...

* 2019: inductee,

Colorado Authors Hall of Fame The Colorado Authors Hall of Fame'' is an award for authors from Colorado who are connected to Colorado or use Colorado in their written works. It "celebrates the accomplishments of living and past authors connected to Colorado." It is a volunteer ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Derbur, Marilyn University of Colorado alumni Miss America 1950s delegates Miss America winners People from Denver Living people 1937 births American motivational speakers Women motivational speakers American motivational writers Women motivational writers American people of Dutch descent