Mary McGrory: The Trailblazing Columnist Who Stood Washington on Its Head by John Norris

Author:John Norris [Norris, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Editors; Journalists; Publishers, Women, Political
ISBN: 9780698407824
Google: b37MBgAAQBAJ
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2015-09-22T20:26:32.136572+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

The Death of a Star

In February 1977, crisis again erupted at the Star. At 5:30 on a Monday morning, Joe Allbritton, who was traveling, phoned the night desk. He ordered the night editor to immediately remove his name as publisher from the paper’s masthead.

The move sparked a frenzy of speculation as Allbritton remained out of sight. Was the owner angry with Bellows? Was the move a negotiating tactic aimed at the unions? Was Allbritton selling the newspaper? The development was all the more perplexing because no one at the paper knew what had precipitated it.

Jim Bellows visited Mary in her office, asking, “Do you know where he is?” Mary had no idea, but she concurred that Allbritton’s move was a “serious explosion.” Having the owner remove his name as publisher of the paper clearly indicated that something was seriously amiss.

Several hours later, Bellows returned. “Heard from Joe?” he asked. Mary had not.

Bellows came to Mary’s office a third time. She still had not heard from Allbritton. “Listen, Jim,” Mary said, “I think the relationship between the editor and the publisher is the most sacred relationship on a paper, and I would not dream of intervening for one split second, unless you tell me to. Would you like me to try to find him?”

“Yeah, why don’t you,” Bellows responded unenthusiastically. Mary phoned Allbritton’s wife. After some gentle cajoling, she acknowledged that her husband was in Houston.

Mary knew that Allbritton’s return was the only way to save the Star. She eventually located him, and the two engaged in a series of lengthy telephone conversations. “His lament,” Mary shared, “was that nobody listened to him, which was quite true, and they didn’t take his advice, which was quite true.” It also turned out that Allbritton was offended that he had not been featured more prominently at the annual Gridiron dinner. After considerable persuading, Allbritton agreed to fly back to Washington to come to Mary’s apartment for a meal and to further engage the Star’s unions. The future of the Washington Star appeared to hinge upon Mary’s ability to talk Allbritton down over veal ragout and Székely cabbage.

The mealtime conversation between Allbritton, Yoder, and Mary was congenial. She let Allbritton vent at great length about Bellows, the Star, and Washington, which improved his mood. Allbritton saw himself as the Star’s savior but was frustrated by what he called “obtuse, ungrateful, nit-picking editors.”

The trio had drinks and sang Baptist hymns after lunch. Mary seemed to have everything back on track.

It was four o’clock, so Mary had to finish her column for the next day. When she got to the paper, a reporter from the Washington Post called, knowing that Mary was close with Allbritton. Without thinking, she told the reporter, on the record, that she thought everything was going to be all right.

The Post printed Mary’s comments. Allbritton hit the roof and quickly canceled his planned meetings with ten unions and a federal mediator. He was furious with Mary: “If I can’t trust you,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.