Marie-Claire Matip Marie-Claire Matip Marie-Claire-Eléonore-Débochère Matip (born 1938) is a Cameroonian writer living in Paris. The daughter of a tribal leader, she was born in Eséka; her father had about fifty children from several different mothers. She was schooled at home at first and then attended school locally. Then, she studied at a college for girls in Douala, where she wrote her novel "Ngonda". In 1956, she won a contest sponsored by "Elle" magazine and Air France that allowed her to travel to France; she returned the following year. In 1958, she studied for her baccalauréat at the Lycée Général Leclerc in
Michelle Zaffino New York City to pursue a career in magazine writing and editing. During her time there she worked as a writer, editor and researcher at Hearst Corporation for publications such as "Marie Claire", "Redbook", "Elle", "Sports Afield" and "Esquire". While managing the research department of Marie Claire, she wrote "Does Your Guy Need A Makeover?", which inspired TV’s "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy". Zaffino also worked in New York as the office assistant to literary photojournalist Jill Krementz. Her work has been published in "Marie Claire, Redbook, Sports Afield, SEEN, Double Negative, IndiePlanet, Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood, The Bold Italic".