Pat Gish
| Pat Gish | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Patricia Ann Burnett January 11, 1927 Paris, Kentucky |
| Died | April 13, 2014 (aged 87) Whitesburg, Kentucky |
| Occupation | Newspaper reporter, editor and publisher; rural housing developer |
| Years active | 1947–2001 |
| Known for | Rural housing activism |
| Notable work | The Mountain Eagle, Eastern Kentucky Housing Development Corporation |
| Spouse(s) | Tom Gish (married 1948–2008 (his death)) |
| Awards |
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Pat Gish (January 11, 1927 – April 13, 2014) was an American journalist, publisher and co-editor of the Whitesburg, Kentucky newspaper The Mountain Eagle, along with her husband, Tom Gish. The Gishes led The Mountain Eagle in covering controversial topics such as the effects of strip mining on the Appalachian environment and political corruption. Under the Gishes' guidance, The Mountain Eagle became a prominent rural newspaper, and the pair won many awards for their journalism. Gish also founded the Eastern Kentucky Housing Development Corporation and worked to improve living conditions in Eastern Kentucky.
Gish was born Patricia Ann Burnett in Paris, Kentucky, to Georgia and Elmer Burnett. She began working in journalism early; she had her first job at age thirteen working as a proof reader for a small Paris newspaper. Gish later moved to Lexington, Kentucky to study journalism at the University of Kentucky. While in college, Gish worked with her campus newspaper The Kentucky Kernel and met her future husband, Tom. She also worked part-time as a proofreader for the Lexington Leader, which is now known as the Lexington Herald-Leader, and later was promoted to assignment reporter. She married Tom Gish in Lexington in 1948 and graduated college in 1949. In 1970, Gish acquired a Masters of Science in Community Development from the University of Louisville.
Pat and Tom Gish bought The Mountain Eagle from Pearl and Martha Nolan in November 1956 and took over editing the paper in January 1957. They changed the paper's motto from "A Friendly Non-Partisan Weekly Newspaper Published Every Thursday," to "It Screams." Under their leadership, The Mountain Eagle for the first time reported on the inner workings of the Letcher County government, which often caused controversy within the community and friction between the paper and city government officials. They covered controversial regional issues, notably strip mining and mine safety abuses in the Appalachian coal industry.
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