Helen Thomas
| Helen Thomas | |
|---|---|
Thomas in February 2009
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| Born |
Helen Amelia Thomas August 4, 1920 Winchester, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | July 20, 2013 (aged 92) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Wayne University (B.A., 1942) |
| Occupation | Author, journalist, columnist |
| Years active | 1943–2013 |
| Known for | Pioneering female reporter; first female member of the White House press corps |
| Home town | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Douglas B. Cornell (1971–1982; his death) |
| Parent(s) |
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| Relatives | 8 siblings |
Helen Amelia Thomas (August 4, 1920 – July 20, 2013) was an American author and news service reporter, member of the White House press corps and opinion columnist. She worked for the United Press and post-1958 successor United Press International (UPI) for 57 years, first as a correspondent, and later as White House bureau manager. She was a columnist for Hearst Newspapers from 2000 to 2010, writing on national affairs and the White House. She covered the administrations of eleven U.S. presidents—from the final years of the Eisenhower administration to the second year of the Obama administration.
Thomas was the first female officer of the National Press Club, the first female member and president of the White House Correspondents' Association and the first female member of the Gridiron Club. She wrote six books; her last, with co-author Craig Crawford, was Listen Up, Mr. President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President to Know and Do (2009). Thomas retired from Hearst Newspapers on June 7, 2010, following controversial comments she made about Israel and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
Born in Winchester, Kentucky, Thomas was the seventh of the nine children of George and Mary (Rowady) Thomas, immigrants from Tripoli in what was, at the time, part of the Ottoman Empire (later, the area became Lebanon). Thomas has said her father's surname, "Antonious", was anglicized to "Thomas" when he entered the U.S. at Ellis Island, and that her parents could neither read nor write. Thomas was raised mainly in Detroit, Michigan, where her family moved when she was four years old, and where her father ran a grocery store. Of her experience growing up, Thomas has said:
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