“Forgotten Hollywood”- Vet White House Journalist is Dead
Manny P. here…
Helen Thomas was the pugnacious news service reporter, member of the White House press corps, and opinion columnist. She worked for the United Press and post-1958 United Press International (UPI) for 57 years, first as a correspondent, and later as White House bureau manager. She was a columnist for Hearst Newspapers from 2000 to 2010, writing on national affairs and the White House. She covered the administrations of ten US presidents — final years of the Eisenhower administration to the second year of President Obama’s first term. HELEN THOMAS —–>
Helen Amelia Thomas was born the daughter of Lebanese immigrants in Winchester, Kentucky on August 4, 1920. After college, Thomas became a copy girl at the Washington Daily News and was quickly promoted to reporter. In 1943, she joined the United Press (UP) and began covering local news and stories about women. In the early 1950s, Thomas began covering Washington celebrities and government agencies.
In 1960, Thomas began covering president-elect John F. Kennedy and White House daily press briefings and press conferences. In 1962, she convinced President Kennedy to suggest that women be allowed to attend annual dinners for White House correspondents. In 1970, Thomas continue to blaze the trail for women journalists when she was named UPI’s chief White House correspondent, the initial gal to achieve that position. Thomas was the only female print journalist to accompany President Nixon during his historic trip to China in 1972.
Thomas continued to break down barriers for female journalists. In 1974, she became the first woman to head UPI’s White House Bureau. In 1975, she was the first woman to be admitted to the Gridiron Club, the historic Washington press group, which later named her its president. And, Helen Thomas became the first female president of the White House Correspondents Association from 1975-1976.
Thomas wed Douglas Cornell, a White House reporter for the Associated Press, in 1971, and they were married until his death in 1982. In addition to her reporting, Thomas wrote three books including Front Row at the White House: My Life and Times (1999), Thank You for the Memories, Mr. President: Wit and Wisdom from the Front Row at the White House (2002), and Watchdogs of Democracy? The Waning Washington Press Corps and How It Has Failed the Public (2006).
Often called the First Lady of the Press, Thomas’ career ended in controversy in 2010 when a YouTube video surfaced in which she said that Israelis should get the hell out of Palestine and return home to Poland, Germany, and America and everywhere else. Thomas retired a week later; but in July 2011, she returned to writing a column for the Falls Church News-Press. In April 2012, Palestinian activist and scholar Hanan Ashrawi gave Thomas a medal for defending the Palestine cause.
The fiesty Helen Thomas was 92.
Until next time> “never forget”
This entry was posted on Saturday, July 20th, 2013 at 11:29 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
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