Dinner with Helen Thomas, for dmr, lpbk2713 and others who asked

[DFW]

76. She was a colleague of my father's

He came to Washington, green from a small town newspaper in upstate New York. It was a much
smaller and tighter community then. He used to take me up to the Senate Press Gallery when I was
little. No security, no nothing, just walk right in and hang with Senators with names like Humphrey,
Dirksen, Kennedy, Javits, Mondale--I was 6 years old, how was I to know how important these guys
were? Helen was one of the few women in my father's generation of DC print journalists, so she
stood out. Although I didn't appreciate her significance at age 6, I sure did later on!

And you are right about her standing up to Bush--NO one else had her guts then: a small rock
standing firm against the tide rushing to believe every lie Cheney spewed out through Bush's
mouth.