2024 Hall of Fame Inductee:
Joan Didion, Class of 1953
A distinctive voice in American letters, Joan Didion demonstrated early talent as a writer and editor at The Daily Californian and The Occident, the campus literary magazine. Didion served as the night editor at the Daily Cal and as an editorial board member at the Occident. Reviewers of her short stories noted the substantial promise in her writing. One of these short stories, which she submitted to Mademoiselle as a junior in 1955, earned her a spot as one of twenty college students selected to serve as guest editors for the magazine’s “college issue.” In that August issue, Didion received her first byline in a national publication with her brief profile of author Jean Stafford. One year later, she landed a job at Vogue with a prizewinning essay on architect William Wurster.