On January 1st 1957, Mary Glasgow established the publishing company now known as Mary Glasgow Magazines. She had started her career as a French teacher, and subsequently became a schools inspector. She was so disappointed by the lack of enthusiasm shown by pupils of French, and by what she felt was the limited appeal of textbooks, that she decided to publish her own series of French magazines, to cover topics which would appeal to students, at a language level with which they would feel comfortable. The magazines were an instant success, and the company went on to develop the current range of 17 magazines – for learners of English, French, German, and Spanish. Mary Glasgow Magazines also now publishes a series of resource books for teachers of English as a foreign language. Mary Glasgow retired in the 1970s, having purchased a small château in France, and having qualified as a pilot so that she could fly herself there and back from England. She was honoured with the Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite by Charles de Gaulle. During her magazine career, she and an American colleague, M.R.Robinson, shared many ideas on the value of magazines written and designed for students. Mr. Robinson had launched his company, Scholastic, in 1920 with the publication of a magazine for students. Mary Glasgow Magazines is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Scholastic Inc, which has continued to publish magazines but has grown to be the largest publisher and distributor of children’s books in the world.