Mary Norton - Austin, Texas
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Author: Biography Supplied by Coordinator
Released 25 October 2003
Mary Norton
As a single woman, Mary Norton joined Aramco in 1958 and worked as a secretary for Aramco Media Production, eventually going on to prepare a televised weekly home show for Saudi women.
In 1961 she married Howard Norton and resigned from the company just before their first child was born in 1964. While raising their family, she continued writing occasional articles for Aramco publications, and in 1979 rejoined Aramco as a writer and editor in the Public Affairs organization.
As a member of the Dhahran Outing Group, Mrs. Norton led several tours to Afghanistan in the 1970s and to Syria in the 1980s.
Since she and her husband left Saudi Arabia they have organized a group of Aramco retirees to meet with H.R.H. Crown Prince Abdullah in Waco, Texas, in April 2001 after his meeting with President George Bush. The group was invited to attend a banquet given in the Crown Prince’s honor in Houston a few days later.
In February 2003, Mrs. Norton gave a presentation on Saudi Arabia as part of a series, Insights Into Other Cultures, sponsored by Quest, an organization of senior citizens who meet under the auspices of the University of Texas at Austin. She also contributes articles to Saudi Aramco’s retirement publication, Al-Ayyam al-Jamilah, and is a member of the National Council of Americans for Middle East Understanding (AMEU), a New York-based group that seeks to encourage a deeper appreciation of the culture, history, and current events of the Middle East.
Mary Norton wrote SAYHAT: The Town that Became a Family for Aramco World, January-February 1972.