Chief editor of 'Vanitha' dies at 81

Mrs K.M. Mathew, chief editor of Vanitha women's magazine and wife of Malayala Manorama chief editor K.M. Mathew, died at the Carithas Mission Hospital in Kottayam at 10.30am yesterday. She was 81.

Mathew, was the chief editor of Vanitha from the time it commenced publication in 1975. However, she was better known as the author of several cook books that were the toast of gourmets. In all, she published 22 books in Malayalam and four in English.

Mathew, who was well known for her interest in and contribution to cooking, music and publishing, spent half a century in the media world. Born in 1922, she married K.M. Mathew in 1942 and published her first recipe book in 1952, for which she said she had got encouragement from her father-in-law K.C. Mammen Mapillai.