{{Short description|American-British disability activist (1933–1998)}} {{Infobox person | name = Claudia Cockburn | birth_date = {{birth date|1933|02|11|df=y}} | birth_place= New York City, US | death_date = {{death date and age|1998|06|25|1933|02|11|df=y}} | death_place= London, England | occupation = Activist | spouse = [[Michael Flanders]] | children = [[Laura Flanders]]<br>[[Stephanie Flanders]] | parents = [[Claud Cockburn]]<br>[[Hope Hale Davis]] | relatives = {{unbulleted list|[[Sarah Caudwell]] (paternal half-sister)|[[Alexander Cockburn]] (paternal half-brother)|[[Andrew Cockburn]] (paternal half-brother)|[[Patrick Cockburn]] (paternal half-brother)|[[Lydia Davis]] (maternal half-sister)|[[Olivia Wilde]] (niece)}} }} '''Claudia Cockburn Flanders''', [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire|OBE]] (11 February 1933 – 25 June 1998) was an American-British disability activist who spent much of her working life in the United Kingdom.
Her parents were [[Claud Cockburn]], a journalist, and [[Hope Hale Davis]]. She married singer-songwriter [[Michael Flanders]] in 1959.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/16/archives/michael-flanders-is-dead-at-53-humoriststar-of-drop-of-a-hat.html|title=Michael Flanders Is Dead at 53; Humorist-Star of 'Drop of a Hat'|last=Krebs|first=Albin|date=16 April 1975|work=The New York Times|access-date=9 August 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jul/26/stephanie-flanders-interview|title=The interview: Stephanie Flanders|last=Cadwalladr|first=Carole|date=25 July 2009|work=The Observer|access-date=9 August 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0029-7712}}</ref> Her stepmother, by her father's remarriage, was [[Jean Ross]], the reported inspiration for [[Christopher Isherwood]]'s iconic character [[Sally Bowles]].<ref name="Garebian">{{cite book | last = Garebian | first = Keith | title = The Making of Cabaret | location = Oxford | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | page = 4| year = 2011 | isbn=978-0199732500 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PuD3p2IGW5oC}}</ref> Through her father, she was the half-sister of mystery writer [[Sarah Caudwell]], Ross's daughter, Irish journalists [[Alexander Cockburn|Alexander]], [[Andrew Cockburn|Andrew]] and [[Patrick Cockburn]], and paternal aunt of actress [[Olivia Wilde]] (née Cockburn), including Wilde's siblings. Through her mother, she was the half-sister of the American writer [[Lydia Davis]].
In 1987, Flanders formed Tripscope, an organisation to help disabled people with transportation difficulties.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/3587226/Ill-give-as-good-as-I-get.html|title='I'll give as good as I get'|last=Grice|first=Elizabeth|date=17 December 2002|access-date=9 August 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref><ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-claudia-flanders-1173922.html Obituary], Independent.co.uk; accessed 25 March 2017.</ref> She created the post of adviser on disability to the [[National Bus Company (UK)]] in the 1970s and served for many years on the national [[Joint Committee on Mobility for Disabled People]] and the [[Department of Transport]] Advisory Committee on Disability in the UK. She was awarded an [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] in 1981 for her services to disabled people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1982/may/26/transport-without-handicap-dot-report|title="Transport without Handicap": DOT Report (Hansard)|date=26 May 1982|website=api.parliament.uk|access-date=9 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/49008/supplement/10|title=Official Public Record|website=The London Gazette}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199394/cmhansrd/1994-02-11/Writtens-1.html|title=House of Commons Hansard Debates for 11 Feb 1994|website=publications.parliament.uk|access-date=9 August 2019}}</ref>
==Death== She died in London on 25 June 1998, aged 65. Her daughters are the journalists [[Laura Flanders|Laura]] and [[Stephanie Flanders]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/stephanie-flanders-shes-got-the-power-lkdfwc7nbnw|title=Stephanie Flanders: she's got the power|last=Turner|first=Janice|date=8 February 2014|work=[[The Times]]|access-date=9 August 2019|language=en|issn=0140-0460}}</ref>
In 1999, a special award for improved accessibility for UK buses operators was started in her memory under the UK Bus Awards. <ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ukbusawards.org.uk/content/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=161%3Aaccessibility-1999&catid=15%3Aaccessibility&Itemid=27 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004054107/http://www.ukbusawards.org.uk/content/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=161%3Aaccessibility-1999&catid=15%3Aaccessibility&Itemid=27 | archive-date=2011-10-04 | title=UK Bus Awards | Home of the UK Bus Awards }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ukbusawards.org.uk/content/index.php/events-06/54-year-11-2006/482-accessibility-2008|title=Accessibility - The Claudia Flanders Memorial Award|website=www.ukbusawards.org.uk|access-date=9 August 2019}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[Hope Hale Davis]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cockburn, Claudia}} [[Category:1933 births]] [[Category:1998 deaths]] [[Category:Activists from New York City]] [[Category:American expatriates in England]] [[Category:British expatriates in the United States]] [[Category:British disability rights activists]] [[Category:American disability rights activists]] [[Category:English people of Scottish descent]] [[Category:People in bus transport]] [[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]] [[Category:Clan Cockburn]]