Thank you, Helen Thomas
30 Oct 2013 Written by Sherry Conohan
Helen Thomas, a pioneer among women in journalism who became known for saying “Thank YOU, Mr. President,” at the end of white house news conferences, would have loved to have been among the family and friends who attended the memorial service for her in Washington, D.C.
Before the ceremony began, a beautiful breakfast buffet was served and a lot of schmoozing was going on. Thomas would have thought that a wonderful setting for digging up some news nuggets. Outside, not far away, national monuments were cordoned off and national museums were closed as part of the partial shutdown of the federal government resulting from an impasse between Republicans in Congress and President Obama. A juicy story to sink her teeth in.
The memorial service fittingly was held at the National Press Club, a former all-male bastion that Thomas and some of her female colleagues in the White House Press Club knocked down the barriers to and won admittance for women in 1974. She was proud of that membership, friends in the press corps reported, and enthusiastically participated in the Gridiron shows held there every year.
A veteran of 57 years with the United Press International wire service, Thomas covered 10 presidents from Kennedy to Obama. She once dated Kennedy, according to one of the speakers at the service. When asked later what she thought of him, she replied, ”He was too fresh.”
Another speaker told how Thomas came to Kennedy’s aid one time after he was president. It seems Kennedy was having a tough time answering a question at a White House press conference. Thomas looked at her watch and interrupted him to say, “Thank you, Mr. President.” Kennedy then told her, “Thank YOU.”
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http://www.hiltonheadmonthly.com/people/profiles/2727-thank-you-helen-thomas
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