Columnist Mary McGrory dies at 85

[Dookus]

Columnist Mary McGrory, a major figure in 20th-century American journalism, a writer of lasting influence, exquisite technique, liberal convictions, a contempt for phonies and a love of orphans and delphiniums, died last night at George Washington University Hospital.

A hospital spokeswoman declined to give the cause of death.

Born Aug. 22, 1918, in Boston, McGrory had 85 poetic and eventful years on a sometimes disappointing but often amusing Earth.

"The most luminous writer and clearest thinker in the business," New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd declared of McGrory at a tribute to her career several years ago. This opinion was widely held. Longtime Boston Globe editor Thomas Winship called her "the undisputed best handler of the English language in the news business." One of her rivals for that title, former Times columnist Russell Baker, noted her influence on later generations: McGrory was, he said, "a pioneering force in today's tell-it-like-it-is, show-them-no-mercy journalism."

more at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32971-2004Apr22.html

[Democat]

1. "today's tell-it-like-it-is, show-them-no-mercy journalism"

That must be a different "today" than the one we are now living in.

We need a lot more reporters who are willing to tell it like it is. Sorry to see her pass.

[JohnKleeb]

2. aww thats sad

She was a link between the generations, me and my grandma both enjoyed reading her. RIP Mary.

[dw]

3. I started reading her columns in the late 60s.

She was the first critical thinker I read regularly. I could always count on her for a well-researched and tightly presented column, and I learned to respect the power of good journalism through her integrity.

She was a rare treasure, and this country is poorer for the loss.

[keithyboy]

16. Me too, and you are so right

If only we had even a small cadre of columnists like her.

[Tom Kitten]

4. sad to hear

the Oregonian carried her column back in the day, along with Mike Royko, Art Buchwald, etc...She was the most eloquent...compared to the current day columnists they run (Krauthammer, Saunders et al) it is easy to see how much journalistic discourse has devolved...

[cleofus1]

5. One of the top few journalists....

I read her regularly. She stopped writing months ago...I missed her then...I miss her now...

[joeybee12]

6. Very sad--there are so few like her left....

...hope she's at peace.

[kstewart33]

7. A huge loss

She was the best columnist for the Washington Post, and a unique and wise voice for the liberal perspective. One hell of a writer.

[Layman]

8. Remember the day after 9/11...

when she wrote the article about the coward-in-chief hightailing to some hide-a-way when she said the chimp should have gone back to the White House and taken a stand there and she got trashed for her efforts? Now she doesn't after suffer the slings and arrows of the American ignorant ingrates. She's in a better palce, more deserving of her. Godspeed Ms. McGrory

[Southpaw Bookworm]

9. Damn, damn, damn

She was one of the great columnists, never failed to tell it like it is. WHo will step up into the void left behind?

:cry:

[newyawker99]

13. Hi Southpaw Bookworm!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Jack Rabbit]

10. This is a voice that will be sorely missed now

Every time Bush talks to God now, she'll be up there to set Him straight with the facts and an intelligent point of view.

[noonwitch]

11. We used to read her columns in my hs government class

We read Buckley or Safire for balance.

[bushwakker]

12. RIP MM

thanks for all the great columns. I wish more "journalists" in Washington had your guts.

[lalajohns]

14. May Her Soul Rest in Peace

n/t

[CBHagman]

15. A great woman.

So human, yet so insightful, so poetic, so fundamentally decent. She could be relentlessly tough on elected officials, yet there was genuine warmth in her writing.

I think I still have the column she wrote about President Clinton when his term ended. It was one of the most beautiful tributes I've ever read, a portrait of a very human president. And make no mistake about it; Mary McGrory was tough on the Big Dog. But she also recognized the man's generosity and charisma.

As for Mary McGrory, we will miss her so! I'd like to think she and the wonderful Herblock (whom we lost in October 2001) are together now in the next life. We need their wisdom, humor, and decency in this world still.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

17. Damn. She will be missed. But she was there for the big ones

That's for sure.

[KoKo]

18. Oh, she was so good. One of the last of the last of a kind of journalist/

columnists. This is very sad. :toast: to you Mary! You will be missed.

[KoKo]

19. And a little more about her: On Nixon's Enemies list and Poppy Bush

didn't care for her. Here's a clip from what her cousin(a reporter in Boston) wrote about her for those who want to know a little more:

'The Best I'll Ever Know'

By Brian McGrory

Sunday, November 16, 2003; Page B07

Today, I ask your indulgence. I'm about to commit the boorish act of bragging about a relative, and I'm hoping you'll understand why.

Mary McGrory is my cousin. Merely typing those words fills me with pride. For the unknowing, she's a Post columnist, a lion of the left, winner of the Pulitzer Prize.

Born in Roslindale and educated in Boston, she has written about the world's most significant events for nearly 50 years. People still quote her words from the Kennedy assassinations. She landed prominently on President Nixon's enemies list. The elder George Bush once lamented in his private journal, "She has destroyed me over and over again."

While most Washington pundits closet themselves with their own profound thoughts, interrupted only by lunch at the Palm with the secretary of Something, Mary employs old-fashioned tools: a sensible pair of shoes, a Bic and a notebook. She haunts congressional hearings. She sits with the unwashed in the back of the White House briefing room.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A43080-2003Nov14?language=printer

Brian McGrory is a columnist for the Boston Globe. His e-mail address is [e-mail].

[Gloria]

20. A great loss....

A real blow. Another great one gone. And no one to take her place....