Elizabeth Janeway (née Hall) (October 7, 1913 – January 15, 2005) was an American author and critic.

Biography

Born Elizabeth Ames Hall in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

, New York, her naval architect father and homemaker mother fell on hard times during the Depression, leading her to end her

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a private liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeducational colleges in the United States. It was established as ...

education and help support the family by creating bargain-basement sale slogans (she graduated from

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Col ...

just a few years later, in 1935). Intent on becoming an author, Janeway took the same

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literar ...

class again and again to help hone her craft. While working on her first novel, ''The Walsh Girls'', she met and married

Eliot Janeway Eliot Janeway (January 1, 1913—February 8, 1993), born Eliot Jacobstein, was an American economist, journalist and author, widely quoted during his lifetime, whose career spanned seven decades. For a time his ideas gained some influence w ...

, a much-quoted economist, who was to enjoy some influence with Presidents

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

and

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

(he was known as "Calamity Janeway" for his pessimistic economic forecasts). Elizabeth described Eliot as "the most intelligent man I had ever met." The Janeways mingled with

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point ...

justices and many other public figures of the day (she recommended

Erica Jong Erica Jong (née Mann; born March 26, 1942) is an American novelist, satirist, and poet, known particularly for her 1973 novel ''Fear of Flying''. The book became famously controversial for its attitudes towards female sexuality and figured pro ...

's ''

Fear of Flying Fear of flying is a fear of being on an airplane, or other flying vehicle, such as a helicopter, while in flight. It is also referred to as flying anxiety, flying phobia, flight phobia, aviophobia, aerophobia, or pteromechanophobia (although ae ...

'' to Justice

William O. Douglas William Orville Douglas (October 16, 1898January 19, 1980) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who was known for his strong Progressivism, progressive and Civil libertarianism, civ ...

). At the behest of

labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

organizer

Walter Reuther Walter Philip Reuther (; September 1, 1907 – May 9, 1970) was an American leader of organized labor and civil rights activist who built the United Automobile Workers (UAW) into one of the most progressive labor unions in American history. He ...

, she aided General Motors workers with their mid-1940s strike against the company. Janeway finally finished ''Girls'' in 1943 while awaiting the birth of her second child; she signed the contract with the publishers while en route to the hospital. A later novel, 1949's ''The Question of Gregory,'' attracted attention due to the eerie similarities between Gregory and

James Forrestal James Vincent Forrestal (February 15, 1892 – May 22, 1949) was the last Cabinet-level United States Secretary of the Navy and the first United States Secretary of Defense. Forrestal came from a very strict middle-class Irish Catholic f ...

, a

defense secretary The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high ranking member of the federal cabinet. DoDD 5100.1: Enclosure 2: a The ...

and acquaintance of the Janeways who committed suicide. Janeway denied any connection between fact and fiction; she said the real theme of the book was "liberals in trouble". All in all, Janeway wrote seven novels; one, 1945's ''Daisy Kenyon'', was made into a film starring

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pic ...

. For a time, Janeway was a reviewer for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

.'' In that capacity, she introduced writer

Anthony Powell Anthony Dymoke Powell ( ; 21 December 1905 – 28 March 2000) was an English novelist best known for his 12-volume work '' A Dance to the Music of Time'', published between 1951 and 1975. It is on the list of longest novels in English. Powel ...

and served as a champion of controversial works such as ''

Lolita ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Hum ...

''. She was also a reviewer for ''

Ms. Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed)''Oxford English Dictionary'' online, Ms, ''n.2''. Etymology: "An orthographic and phonetic blend of Mrs ''n.1'' and miss ''n.2'' Compare mizz ''n.'' The pr ...

''. From 1965–1969, she served as president of the

Authors Guild The Authors Guild is America's oldest and largest professional organization for writers and provides advocacy on issues of free expression and copyright protection. Since its founding in 1912 as the Authors League of America, it has counted among ...

, addressing lawmakers about

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

protection and other matters. Many of Janeway's early works focused on the family situation, with occasional glimpses at the struggles of women in modern society. In the early 1970s, she began a more explicitly feminist path with works such as ''Man's World, Woman's Place: A Study of Social Mythology.'' She befriended

Betty Friedan Betty Friedan ( February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book ''The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the se ...

Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem (; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Steinem was a ...

, and

Kate Millett Katherine Murray Millett (September 14, 1934 – September 6, 2017) was an American feminist writer, educator, artist, and activist. She attended Oxford University and was the first American woman to be awarded a degree with first-class honors ...

, and was strongly in favor of abortion rights. Janeway continued to write and go on lecture tours. She learned to speak Russian so she could visit the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. Janeway was a judge for the

National Book Awards The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The N ...

in 1955 and for the Pulitzer Prize in 1971. She was an executive of

International PEN PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internation ...

. At its 1981 commencement ceremonies, her ''alma mater'' Barnard College awarded Janeway its highest honor, the

Barnard Medal of Distinction The following is a list of notable individuals associated with Barnard College through attendance as a student, service as a member of the faculty or staff, or award of the Barnard Medal of Distinction. Notable alumnae Academics and scientists ...

. Elizabeth Hall Janeway died in 2005 at her

Rye, New York Rye is a coastal suburb of New York City in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is separate from the Rye (town), New York, Town of Rye, which has more land area than the city. The City of Rye, formerly the Village of Rye, was part o ...

home. She was survived by two sons:

Columbia Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sc ...

professor, ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' editor, and former ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' executive

Michael Janeway Michael Charles Janeway (May 31, 1940 – April 17, 2014) was an American journalist. He was editor-in-chief of '' The Boston Globe'', dean of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and a professor at the Columbia Universi ...

and

William H. Janeway William Hall "Bill" Janeway Order of the British Empire, CBE (born May 3, 1943) is an American venture capitalist and economist. His work on the innovation economy emphasizes the strategic role played by the state and by financial speculators. E ...

, until 2006 a vice chairman at

Warburg Pincus Warburg Pincus LLC is a global private equity firm, headquartered in New York, with offices in the United States, Europe, Brazil, China, Southeast Asia and India. Warburg has been a private equity investor since 1966. The firm currently has ...

, as well as by three grandchildren and a great-granddaughter. The '' Star Trek: Voyager'' character

Kathryn Janeway Kathryn Janeway is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. She was the Captain of the Starfleet starship USS ''Voyager'' (on '' Star Trek: Voyager'') while it was lost in the Delta Quadrant on the other side of the galaxy. After re ...

originally shared her name, but writers changed the name after learning of her.''The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future'' Updated and Expanded Edition by

Michael Okuda Michael Okuda is an American graphic designer best known for his work on ''Star Trek'' including designing futuristic computer user interfaces known as "okudagrams". Career Work in ''Star Trek'' In the mid-1980s, he designed the look of ani ...

and

Denise Okuda Denise Lynn Okuda is a computer, scenic and video supervisor, and a writer known for her work on several ''Star Trek'' film and television productions, as well as other science fiction television. She also co-authored the ''Star Trek Encycloped ...

, page 219.

References

External links

Obituary
at ''The Guardian''
More Janeway quotes
at thinkexist.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Janeway, Elizabeth 1913 births 2005 deaths 20th-century American novelists Barnard College alumni Writers from Brooklyn People from Rye, New York Swarthmore College alumni American women novelists 20th-century American women writers Novelists from New York (state) American women non-fiction writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women