August 2006 - 36

Dorothy Hayden Truscott
1925-2006

ACBL Bridge Hall of Fame
member Dorothy Truscott died
peacefully at her summer home in
the Adirondack Mountains of New
York on July 4, surrounded by
friends and family.
Truscott's accomplishments in
the bridge world are many. She
was a World Bridge Federation
Open Life Master. She was
a four-time world champion,
winning the Venice Cup in
1974, 1976 and 1978 and
the World Women's Team
Olympiad in 1980. Thirteen
times she was selected to
represent the United States in
international competition. She
was one of two women who
played on a North American
team for the Bermuda Bowl.
In Buenos Aires, Argentina,
in 1965, Truscott (then Dorothy
Hayden), her partner B. Jay Becker
and Alan Truscott (who she married
in 1972) played key roles in uncovering what developed into a scandal
surrounding alleged signals between
Terence Reese and Boris Schapiro
of Great Britain. The Truscotts and
Becker later testified about what
they observed at hearings.
Truscott's contributions to bridge
theory include an unusual jump
to show a singleton (now called
the splinter bid) and responses to
Blackwood after interference (now
called DOPI).
She was author of Bid Better, Play
Better and Winning Declarer Play.
She and Alan co-authored Teach
Yourself Basic Bidding. She also
contributed to various magazines
and to the Official Encyclopedia of
Bridge. In 2002, after 20 years of
research, she published Hellgate, an
historical novel about the Hudson
Valley area of New York (then called
New Amsterdam) in the 1600s.
Truscott began playing bridge
when she was five years old. "Her
parents, my grandparents, played
bridge and they let her sit in as
dummy," said Bobette Thorsen,
36

Truscott's daughter.
"She had a great desire to win,
yet was so supportive of her
partner," said Gail Greenberg, a
partner and teammate. "She had a
great love of the game. Her vitality,
and how giving she was, made her a
special person."
"Dorothy had a great sense of
humor," said Carol Sanders. "She
always found something to smile
about. That together with her
tremendous talent and tenacity
enabled her to win many major
tournaments with a long list of
different partners."
"Dorothy's partnership with Emma
Jean Hawes was one to be emulated,"
added Sanders. "And not just for its
overwhelming success, but for their
example of thoughtfulness toward
their opponents and one another."
"We had the greatest mother in
the world," said Thorsen. "She used
to play Chicago-style bridge, and
they would switch partners after

a certain number of hands, so she
played with all the other players.
She did so well because she was so
nice to her partner."
Truscott played in the first
Women's Olympiad team in
1960 and placed fifth. She
was second in the Bermuda
Bowl in 1965, and third in
the World Open Pairs in
1966 (the only women ever
to finish in the top 10 in
this event). She was third
in the World Women's
Team Olympiad in 1968,
and placed fifth in the
World Mixed Teams in
1972. Truscott won the
Pan-Am Women's Teams in
1992 and was non-playing
captain of the winning Venice
Cup team in 1989.
Truscott won the inaugural
Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs in
1963 and was the only woman to
have done so until Jill Meyers in
1999. She won a total of 25 North
American championships.
In 1998, Truscott was inducted
into the ACBL Bridge Hall of Fame.
When husband Alan was later also
inducted, they became the third
husband and wife pair to be so
honored.
"Dorothy was a winner," said
Lynn Deas. "She was a fighter who
never gave up. There are many
examples of her kindness. When I
was confined to a rehab hospital,
she and some other players drove
up and spent the afternoon playing
bridge with me."
"What wonderful memories I
will have of Dorothy," said Carol
Sanders, "both as her many time
teammate as well as partner. She
will be missed by those who knew
her."
Truscott is survived by daughters
Catherine Hayden, Margaret Cooke
and Bobette Thorsen; stepchildren
Francis Collins, Fraser Truscott
and Phillip Truscott, and by
14 grandchildren.
❒
Bridge Bulletin
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2006
