The First Lady of the Press Corps

In the spring of 1999, Helen Thomas came to the Twin Cities to do a speech for the Center for Victims of Torture. I was a senior in college, fresh off a summer and fall in DC, and I got the chance to go pick her up at the airport. To say I was starstruck would be an understatement.

We sat at the hotel bar and talked over scotch and the stories that lady told, well. She was an original, alright, the definition of a trailblazer. I never forgot the conversation, or her words of encouragement as I tried to figure out what to do with the rest of my life.

Her death was announced today. She lived 92 full years.

"[Reporters] are not there to curry presidential favor, nor can we respond to efforts at presidential intimidation. Our priority is the peoples’ right to know — without fear or favor. We are the peoples’ servants." She took that responsibility very seriously, and was deeply critical of a media that was complicit in advancing a war started under false pretenses. She wasn’t without controversy, certainly, but she believed in the best journalism could be. She’ll be missed.