[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 61 (Wednesday, May 5, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H2624]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF MARY McGRORY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, it is with a great deal of sadness that I 
rise to pay tribute to Mary McGrory, who passed away 2 weeks ago at the 
age of 85. During her magnificent career with the Washington Star and 
The Washington Post, Mary informed and engaged her readers on every 
major event of the past half century.
  Mary was a keen observer, an elegant writer and a tenacious 
journalist; and she was an inspiration to so many women. It was a joy 
to read her columns, and of course, we miss her terribly. That is why I 
am so pleased to join my colleagues here today, the gentlewoman from 
New York (Ms. Slaughter), who was a very close personal friend of Mary 
McGrory, and our colleague, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
McGovern), who is in the Chamber now, as well as our colleague, the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), who had the honor of being 
pallbearers for Mary. What a tribute.
  We loved Mary for her insights. No matter how many reporters covered 
an event, Mary always found the small detail that had large 
implications others may have overlooked.
  She noted the manner in which Richard Nixon's staff reacted to his 
retirement press conference in 1962, the bearing of Secretary of Army 
Robert Stevens during the Army-McCarthy hearings, and so many other 
fine points. At times, it seemed that Mary grasped the significance of 
everything that she saw.
  She saw nearly everything. We loved Mary for her diligence. She was 
one of the hardest-working people in Washington. Even into her 
eighties, she would come to Capitol Hill to see firsthand the events of 
the day.
  She was always willing to have a cub reporter, even a senior editor, 
take her bags; but she would never ask someone else to take her notes.
  She was legendary for looking after every detail, even writing out 
the instructions for her own funeral. She had directed her former 
Washington Star colleague, Phil Gailey, to talk about her beloved Star 
in the eulogy, and she told him: ``Don't go blubbering on me the way 
you do when you read a dog story with a sad ending.''
  Mary's insight and her industry were matched only by her eloquence. 
We loved Mary for choosing every word with care.
  Mary had a vocabulary that would send her editor reaching for his 
dictionary, and when she wrote about a retiring Congresswoman once that 
her ``black eyes still snap with the old fire,'' she gave her readers 
in eight words a better understanding of the congresswoman than lesser 
writers did in eight paragraphs.
  From the Army-McCarthy hearings that brought her to Washington's 
attention, to her Watergate coverage for which she won the Pulitzer 
Prize, to her chronicling of the Iraq War debate which proved to be her 
swan song, her writing enriched our national dialogue. Those of us who 
were inspired by President John F. Kennedy, as she was, took sad solace 
in her loving reporting on his assassination.
  Here, in the Congress, we were so fortunate to have the opportunity 
to honor Mary McGrory in March and to see the outpouring of affection 
and gratitude for her career. We were joined by many Members of the 
House of Representatives, many members of the United States Senate, 
many of her colleagues from the press corps. We were her fans, and we 
were there for her.
  God blessed America with Mary McGrory, a beautiful writer, a 
wonderful person. Her passing is a tremendous loss for us all.
  She loved Boston. She loved being Irish, but she also loved Italy; 
and she had a bond always with the Italians. She visited Italy 
frequently.
  She loved her garden. We all know how much she loved her garden. One 
could talk all day about Mary McGrory and never be able to capture her 
in the way she would capture her. Nonetheless, it was an honor and a 
privilege, and, indeed, a joy to be able to call her friend.
  Again, I know that I speak for many in this Chamber who will say 
thank you, Mary, for what you have given us. Thank you for being a 
blessing to our country. We will miss you sadly. Thank you.

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