Joan Werner Laurie
Encyclopedia
Joan Werner Laurie was the daughter of Thomas Werner Laurie
, a London
publisher with a reputation for publishing risqué
titles. After a war spent in the WRNS
and a six-year marriage to Paul Seyler, MC from which issued a son (Nicholas Laurie Seyler, later Nicholas Werner Laurie, now Nick Laurie) she founded and, until her death, edited the woman's periodical She. She lived openly with the journalist and broadcaster Nancy Spain
and later the couple provided a home to Windmill Theatre
owner and rally driver Sheila van Damm
. Among her other achievements she was herself a competent rally driver and navigator.
She was learning to fly when she died, with Nancy Spain and four others, in a light aeroplane crash on her way to the Grand National
- the Civil Aviation Authority Accident Reported ended with the words "Passenger interference cannot be ruled out". She was cremated with Spain at Golder's Green Crematorium, London. The relationship between Werner Laurie and Spain is described in Rose Collis' posthumous biography of Nancy Spain, published in 1997.
Thomas Werner Laurie
Thomas Werner Laurie was a London publisher of books that were avant-garde in some cases, racy in others. He founded his T. Werner Laurie Ltd. publishing house in 1904 and was known for publishing the works of Yeats, Wilde, and Moore as well as others of lesser renown...
, a London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
publisher with a reputation for publishing risqué
Risqué
Risqué is the third studio album by American R&B band Chic, released on Atlantic Records in 1979, the same year that Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers wrote and produced Sister Sledge's massively successful We Are Family....
titles. After a war spent in the WRNS
Women's Royal Naval Service
The Women's Royal Naval Service was the women's branch of the Royal Navy.Members included cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, radar plotters, weapons analysts, range assessors, electricians and air mechanics...
and a six-year marriage to Paul Seyler, MC from which issued a son (Nicholas Laurie Seyler, later Nicholas Werner Laurie, now Nick Laurie) she founded and, until her death, edited the woman's periodical She. She lived openly with the journalist and broadcaster Nancy Spain
Nancy Spain
Nancy Brooker Spain was a prominent English broadcaster and journalist.She spent much of her youth in Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne. Her father was Lieutenant-Colonel Spain, a freeman of the city and a prominent figure in local military and antiquarian affairs...
and later the couple provided a home to Windmill Theatre
Windmill Theatre
The Windmill Theatre, later The Windmill International, was a variety and revue theatre in Great Windmill Street, London. The theatre was famous for its nude tableaux vivants...
owner and rally driver Sheila van Damm
Sheila van Damm
Sheila van Damm was a leading British woman competitor in motor rallying in the 1950s, and also the former owner of the Windmill Theatre in London....
. Among her other achievements she was herself a competent rally driver and navigator.
She was learning to fly when she died, with Nancy Spain and four others, in a light aeroplane crash on her way to the Grand National
Grand National
The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
- the Civil Aviation Authority Accident Reported ended with the words "Passenger interference cannot be ruled out". She was cremated with Spain at Golder's Green Crematorium, London. The relationship between Werner Laurie and Spain is described in Rose Collis' posthumous biography of Nancy Spain, published in 1997.