[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 48 (Monday, April 27, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E674]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 NOTING THE PASSING OF MARY STRASSMEYER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. LOUIS STOKES

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 27, 1998

  Mr. STOKES. Mr. Speaker, in my Congressional District, we are 
mourning the passing of an outstanding individual and journalist. Mary 
Strassmeyer died on April 20, 1998. Before retiring from the Plain 
Dealer newspaper, her ``Mary, Mary'' column provided a wealth of 
information about Northeast Ohio's social events, people and other 
items of interest.
  Mary Strassmeyer began her career as a reporter for the Cleveland 
News in 1956. Four years later, she came to the Plain Dealer, become 
Society Editor in 1965. For 21 years, readers were entertained and 
informed through her ``Mary, Mary'' column. She was an exceptional 
journalist whose dedication was unsurpassed. During her lifetime, she 
was the recipient of numerous awards, including being named one of the 
best society editors in the country. She was also inducted into the 
Press Club of Cleveland's Journalism Hall of Fame.
  Mr. Speaker, throughout my congressional career, I enjoyed a close 
association with Mary Strassmeyer. She was a remarkable woman whom I 
admired and respected. I could always count on her coverage of events 
throughout my Congressional District, and I always looked forward to 
reading ``Mary, Mary'' for other tidbits of information. I am pleased 
that the Wednesday, April 22, 1998, edition of the Plain Dealer 
includes an article on the life and career of Mary Strassmeyer. In her 
memory, I include this article in the Congressional Record. I extend my 
sympathy to Alex Machaskee and Mary's colleagues at the Plain Dealer, 
her family and many friends. We are saddened at her passing and she 
will never be forgotten.

            [From the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Apr. 22, 1998]

                      Mary Strassmeyer Dead at 68


She was a hard-working journalist who loved her town, her newspaper and 
                           writing her column

                          (By Alana Baranick)

       Mary Strassmeyer, retired Plain Dealer reporter who Mary, 
     Mary column was an encyclopedia of people and places in 
     Greater Cleveland, died of complications from diabetes Monday 
     at Deaconess Hospital. She was 68.
       She covered Cleveland's high society for 32 years and moved 
     easily among British royals, Hollywood and Broadway 
     celebrities and the Washington elite.
       For 21 of those years, Strassmeyer wrote a column full of 
     information about people, places and happenings in Northeast 
     Ohio and beyond. She often included announcements about fund-
     raising functions for nonprofit organizations.
       ``Many charities and civic organizations benefited from a 
     kind word in Mary's column,'' Plain Dealer President and 
     Publisher Alex Machaskee said. ``Mary Strassmeyer was an 
     excellent journalist, and she also was a very good friend. 
     She has a great sense of humor and enjoyed life to the 
     fullest. I will miss her warmth and honesty.''
       Honesty was her trademark.
       ``Mary was to the print media as Dorothy Fuldheim was to 
     TV,'' said Sam Miller, co-chairman of Forest City 
     Enterprises. ``She was a high-class lady. She never broke her 
     word. When she said `off the record,' it was off the record. 
     It just shows you can be a decent human being and be a first-
     class journalist at the same time.''
       Strassmeyer did not kowtow to her subjects, no matter how 
     much power they wielded. She was known for her dry wit and 
     her take-no-prisoners approach.
       She had a bemused affection for the ``swells,'' as she 
     called socially prominent folks, and reported stories as 
     truthfully as she saw them.
       She didn't mince words with people who were trying to get 
     items in her society column, often telling them in a brusque 
     voice, ``You're going to have do better than that.``
       Strassmeyer made a beachhead in The Plain Dealer newsroom 
     when it was virtually devoid of women. She did it by exuding 
     toughness on her beat and with her male colleagues.
       Later, her desk was always covered and surrounded with 
     roses, carnations and other flowers and plants, which came as 
     thank-you gifts from people and organizations mentioned in 
     her column.
       Strassmeyer was a hard worker who loved her town, her 
     newspaper and writing her column. She reluctantly retired in 
     July because of poor health.
       Her home in the Old Brooklyn section of Cleveland was on 
     the same street as the house in which she was raised. For 
     less than two years in the 1960s, she tried suburban living 
     in Bay Village, but soon grew homesick for her hometown.
       She graduated in 1951 from Notre Dame College in South 
     Euclid, where she majored in English and history. She did 
     post-graduate work in history at Toledo University.
       In 1956, Strassmeyer joined the Cleveland News as a 
     reporter. She was an education writer when the News closed in 
     1960 and she joined The Plain Dealer. She wrote features and 
     travel stories and served as beauty editor before becoming 
     the society editor in 1965.
       While composing beauty colums for teens, Strassmeyer 
     collaborated with a promotion department artist, Jeanne 
     Harris, on a one-panel cartoon called, ``Sneakers'' which 
     featured helpful hints on beauty, grooming and etiquette for 
     teenagers.
       The cartoon, which first appeared in The Plain Dealer in 
     1964, was soon syndicated internationally through King 
     Features. In 1966, it was added to a display of American 
     comics at the Smithsonian Institution.
       She later wrote the words to photographer Bill Wynne's 
     pictures for the book, ``Coco, The Special Delivery Dog.''
       In 1976, Strassmeyer began writing a society column, called 
     ``Today.'' which was the forerunner of ``Mary, Mary.''
       She added broadcast media work to her resume in 1979. For 
     10 years, she had a weekly radio show, first on WCLV-FM and 
     later on WERE-AM. She also had a show on WKYC Channel 3 for a 
     short time.
       Strassmeyer earned a law degree from the Cleveland-Marshall 
     College of Law of Cleveland State University in 1981 and was 
     admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1983. Since then, she maintained 
     her own practice.
       She received numerous accolades for her work as a 
     journalist. In 1969, Charlotte Curtis of the New York Times 
     named her one of the seven best society editors in the 
     country. In 1982, ``Mary, Mary'' was described as one of the 
     ``wittiest, best written of all American gossip columns, 
     filled with double entendres and literary references'' in a 
     Town & Country magazine article.
       In 1994, she was inducted into the Press Club of 
     Cleveland's Journalism Hall of Fame.
       The Intown Club honored her in 1976 for her contributions 
     to civic and cultural projects. Ten years later she became 
     the first recipient of the WomenSpace media award for her 
     support of women's issues and organizations.
       Strassmeyer was the founder and first president of the 
     Society of American Social Scribes. She was a member of Theta 
     Sigma Phi, now know as Women in Communications, the Ohio 
     Newspaper Women's Association and the Cleveland Play House 
     Club.
       She also belonged to Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic 
     Church and Kappa Gamma Pi, a national honorary society for 
     Catholic women's college graduates. She volunteered with 
     Catholic Charities.
       She was a world traveler, belonged to numerous travel 
     organizations and co-owned Gerry's International Travel 
     Agency since 1991.
       ``Anytime she got a vacation, she was off to Singapore or 
     more exotic places,'' said Plain Dealer Reporter William F. 
     Miller. ``She could get along with virtually anyone.''
       Retired Plain Dealer Reporter Pauline Thoma said, ``She was 
     one of the world's best friends.''
       Strassmeyer is survived by a sister, Joan Palus of Parma.

       

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