Dorothy TRUSCOTT

(1925-2006)

Dorothy Hayden TRUSCOTT was born in 1925, four days after Harold Vanderbilt introduced his new game of contract bridge to three friends in the Panama Canal . She learned the game at the age of six, watching her parents play socially in Riverdale , N.Y.  

At 21, she was a mother in the Mid-West, furiously reading bridge books and magazines. She became an expert playing rubber bridge in Chicago , and later in New York .  

At the famous Cavendish Club, she met the top players. In 1958 she won the National Mixed Pairs with John Crawford, the first of her 30 national titles. It helped her qualify to represent the United States in the first World Team Olympiad in Turin . Subsequently, she formed a highly successful partnership with B.Jay Becker. In a 13-month period they won three national pair titles, and went on to qualify to play in the 1965 Bermuda Bowl. Playing in Buenos Aires , they helped in exposing two British cheats, creating headlines around the world. (See The Great Bridge Scandal by Alan Truscott; second edition 2004).  

Dorothy wrote two best-selling books, Bid Better, Play Better and Winning Declarer Play. She developed a strong partnership with Emma Jean Hawes, winning many titles, including four world championships. For many years Dorothy was the world's top-ranked woman player.  

In 1971, during a world tour by a Precision Team, Dorothy became engaged to Alan Truscott in romantic circumstances: In front of the Taj Mahal. They were married the following year, and between them have six children and 14 grandchildren. They are both members of the American Contract Bridge League's Hall of Fame.

In 2002, after a 20-year writing effort,  Dorothy published a gripping historical novel, entitled Hell Gate, about the first settlers in Manhattan , when it was Dutch.

Biography by Alan Truscott