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== Early life == |
== Early life == |
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Cooke was born in [[Sheffield]], England,<ref>{{cite web | title = Cooke, Rachel | url = http://www.rcwlitagency.com/authors/cooke-rachel/ | website = rcwlitagency.com | publisher = Rogers, Coleridge & White Literary Agents }}</ref> and was the daughter of a |
Cooke was born in [[Sheffield]], England,<ref>{{cite web | title = Cooke, Rachel | url = http://www.rcwlitagency.com/authors/cooke-rachel/ | website = rcwlitagency.com | publisher = Rogers, Coleridge & White Literary Agents }}</ref> and was the daughter of a lecturer in botany and a biology teacher.<ref name=”What it means to be northern”>{{cite news|last=Cooke|first=Rachel|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/uncategorized/2013/12/going-distance|title=What it means to be northern when you’re Down South|work=New Statesman|date=5 December 2013|access-date=30 October 2021}}</ref><ref name=kitchen>{{Cite news |last=Cooke |first=Rachel |date=2023-10-15 |title=My family was northern and complicated – but food was our way of expressing love |url=https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/oct/15/my-family-was-northern-and-complicated-food-was-our-way-of-expressing-love-rachel-cooke-memoir-kitchen-person |access-date=2025-01-19 |newspaper=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}}</ref> |
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She went to school in [[Jaffa]], Israel, until she was 11 years old, before returning to Sheffield, where she attended [[Tapton School]], then studied at [[University of Oxford|Oxford University]].<ref name=”What it means to be northern” /><ref>{{cite news | last = Cooke | first =Rachel | title = A conspiracy of silence allowed sexual harassment to stay routine | url = https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/28/rachel-cooke-jimmy-savile-silence | work = [[The Observer]] | date = 28 October 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/dec/22/1|title=Hope in the Holy Land|last=Cooke|first=Rachel|date=22 December 2002|access-date=21 July 2019|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Cooke |first=Rachel |date=2001-12-02 |title=Honestly, you haven’t changed a bit |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2001/dec/02/featuresreview.review |access-date=2025-01-19 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}}</ref> |
She went to school in [[Jaffa]], Israel, until she was 11 years old, before returning to Sheffield, where she attended [[Tapton School]], then studied at [[University of Oxford|Oxford University]].<ref name=”What it means to be northern” /><ref>{{cite news | last = Cooke | first =Rachel | title = A conspiracy of silence allowed sexual harassment to stay routine | url = https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/28/rachel-cooke-jimmy-savile-silence | work = [[The Observer]] | date = 28 October 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/dec/22/1|title=Hope in the Holy Land|last=Cooke|first=Rachel|date=22 December 2002|access-date=21 July 2019|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Cooke |first=Rachel |date=2001-12-02 |title=Honestly, you haven’t changed a bit |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2001/dec/02/featuresreview.review |access-date=2025-01-19 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 19:54, 17 November 2025
British journalist and writer (1969–2025)
|
Rachel Cooke |
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|---|---|
| Born | (1969-07-07)7 July 1969 |
| Died | 14 November 2025(2025-11-14) (aged 56) |
| Occupation | |
| Alma mater | Oxford University |
| Notable work | Her Brilliant Career: Ten Extraordinary Women of the Fifties (2013) |
| Notable awards | Interviewer of the Year, British Press Awards |
| Spouse | Anthony Quinn |
Rachel Cooke (7 July 1969 – 14 November 2025) was a British journalist and writer. She primarily wrote for The Guardian and The Observer. In 2013, she released her first book, Her Brilliant Career: Ten Extraordinary Women of the Fifties.
Early life
Cooke was born in Sheffield, England,[1] and was the daughter of a Sheffield University lecturer in botany, Roderic Cooke, and a biology teacher, Elizabeth, née Goodson.[2][3]
She went to school in Jaffa, Israel, until she was 11 years old, before returning to Sheffield, where she attended Tapton School, then studied at Oxford University.[2][4][5][6]
Career
Cooke began her career as a reporter for The Sunday Times. She also wrote for the New Statesman, where she was a television critic, and was a writer for The Observer newspaper. In the “Lost Booker Prize” for 1970, announced in March 2010,[7] Cooke was one of the three judges.[8] From 2010 on, Cooke reviewed graphic novels for The Guardian‘s “Graphic novel of the month”.[9]
Cooke’s first book, Her Brilliant Career: Ten Extraordinary Women of the Fifties,[10] was published in autumn 2013,[2] Katharine Whitehorn wrote in The Observer that “this excellent book should go far towards setting the record straight” about women’s increasing experience of having professional careers rather than being confined to a life as a housewife as accounts of the 1950s commonly assume.[11] Amanda Craig wrote in The Independent that Cooke’s “writing does not delve deep but is eloquent, concise, fair-minded, witty and elegant.”[12]
Awards
In 2006, Cooke was named Interviewer of the Year at the British Press Awards[13] and Feature Writer of the Year at the What the Papers Say Awards.[14] In 2010, she was named Writer of the Year at the PPA Awards for her interviews in Esquire.[15]
Personal life
Cooke was married to the film critic and novelist Anthony Quinn, and lived in Islington, London.[16][17]
Rachel Cooke died from ovarian cancer on 14 November 2025, at the age of 56.[18][19][20]
Bibliography
References
- ^ “Cooke, Rachel”. rcwlitagency.com. Rogers, Coleridge & White Literary Agents.
- ^ a b c Cooke, Rachel (5 December 2013). “What it means to be northern when you’re Down South”. New Statesman. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
- ^ a b Cooke, Rachel (15 October 2023). “My family was northern and complicated – but food was our way of expressing love”. The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
- ^ Cooke, Rachel (28 October 2012). “A conspiracy of silence allowed sexual harassment to stay routine”. The Observer.
- ^ Cooke, Rachel (22 December 2002). “Hope in the Holy Land”. The Guardian. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- ^ Cooke, Rachel (2 December 2001). “Honestly, you haven’t changed a bit”. The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
- ^ Cooke, Rachel (28 March 2010). “The Lost Booker: a judge tells all”. The Observer. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
- ^ “Authors vie for ‘lost’ 1970 Booker Prize”. BBC News. 1 February 2010.
- ^ “Graphic novel of the month | Books”. The Guardian. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
- ^ Huddleston, Yvette (7 February 2014). “Turning the Fifties myth on its head”. The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
- ^ Whitehorn, Katharine (3 November 2013). “Her Brilliant Career: Ten Extraordinary Women of the Fifties by Rachel Cooke – review”. The Observer.
- ^ Craig, Amanda (17 November 2013). “Book Review: Her Brilliant Career, By Rachel Cooke”. The Independent.
- ^ “Guardian is newspaper of the year”. Press Gazette. 20 March 2006.
- ^ “Top Award for Observer Writer”. The Observer. 17 December 2006.
- ^ Luft, Oliver (17 June 2010). “Empire named PPA consumer magazine of the year”. Press Gazette.
- ^ Stanford, Peter (4 January 2009). “Anthony Quinn: ‘I can never go home again”. The Independent. Archived from the original on 6 January 2009.
- ^ Cooke, Rachel (15 July 2012). “The day I judged a Jewish food festival”. The Guardian. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- ^ Adams, Tim (14 November 2025). “Remembering Rachel Cooke”. The Observer.
- ^ McKelvie, Geraldine (15 November 2025). “Tributes paid to ‘fearless and funny’ Observer journalist Rachel Cooke who has died aged 56”. The Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
- ^ Rustin, Susanna (17 November 2025). “Rachel Cooke obituary”. The Guardian. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
