Pat Carbine

Patricia Theresa Carbine (born January 31, 1931) is an American feminist and magazine editor. She was executive editor of Look, which was the highest position held by a woman at a general interest magazine, and the vice president and editor-in-chief of McCall's. She was one of the founders of Ms. magazine and served as one of the first publishers and the first editor-in-chief.

Early life Carbine was born on January 31, 1931, in Villanova, Pennsylvania. Her parents are James T. Carbine and Margaret Carbine (née Dee). She attended Mater Misericordiae Academy between 1936 and 1948. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Rosemont College in 1952. She was a trustee of the college between 1972 and 1996. She went on strike on August 26, 1970, for the Women's Strike for Equality. In 1970, she became the vice president and editor-in-chief of McCall's, where she tried to modernize the magazine with a new section called 'Right Now'.

Ms. magazine In 1971, she was approached by Gloria Steinem who was looking to create a newsletter focusing on the women's movement. Along with Elizabeth Forsling Harris, Carbine convinced her that a magazine was the best approach as it was more likely to make money and to serve as a 'forum'. The trio attempted to source funding for the project and finally received an offer from Clay Felker, editor of New York magazine, who suggested publishing a preview of the new magazine – titled Ms. – in the year-end issue of New York and as a stand-alone January issue.

In January 1972, when the initial issue was selling out, Carbine left McCall's to join Ms. as a publisher. The decision was encouraged by a couple of incidents with the management of the magazine. Carbine chose Steinem as the McCall's Woman of the Year in 1972 but the management was concerned that she was too radical and considering re-printing the magazine covers to instead feature Pat Nixon, until Carbine threatened to publicly resign. She also encouraged reporting on issues which were concerning to advertisers. When she asked the management to break her contract in order to join Ms., they agreed. She was responsible for training the female ad sales force for the magazine, although she and Steinem had to make their own calls to the ad agencies in the early days of the magazine.

In 1975, Carbine and Steinem were sued by Harris for $1.7 million for fraudulently misrepresenting the value of the magazine's shares and for forcing her to share her ownership rights, but the case was dismissed.

Legacy Carbine's papers are held by Smith College.