Background
She was born in Roslindale, Boston, Massachusetts to Edward and Mary McGrory, a tight-knit Irish Catholic family. Her father was a postal clerk and she shared his love of Latin and writing.
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Mary McGrory
Edit ProfileEducation
She graduated from the Girls" Latin School and Emmanuel College and began her career as a book reviewer at The Boston Herald.
Career
She wrote over 8,000 columns, but no books, and made very few media or lecture appearances. She was hired in 1947 by The Washington Star and began her career as a journalist, a path she was inspired to take by reading Jane Arden comic strips. She rose to prominence as their reporter covering the McCarthy hearings in 1954, portraying McCarthy as a typical neighborhood Irish bully.
The day after the Star went out of business in 1981, she went to work for The Washington Post.
In 1985, McGrory received the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award as well as an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Colby College. She died in Washington at the age of 85.
McGrory wrote extensively about the Kennedy presidency. She and John F Kennedy were close in age, both of Irish descent and from Boston.
McGrory"s exchange with Daniel Patrick Moynihan after the president"s assassination was quoted widely: "We will never laugh again," said McGrory.
Moynihan, who worked for President Kennedy responded, "Mary, we will laugh again. But we will never be young again."
As it turned out, the book"s author, rather than McGrory, had written ineptly. The column began, "Here in Michigan, they have failed to get the word about the Nixon landslide." Nevertheless, readers of Coffey"s book were given the impression that the liberal McGrory had made the most erroneous "prediction" in political history.
Achievements
Politics
She specialized in American politics, and was noted for her detailed coverage of political maneuverings. One reviewer said:
McGrory is what you get when proximity to power, keen observation skills, painstaking reporting, a judgmental streak and passionate liberalism coalesce in a singularly talented writer — one whose abilities are matched by the times.
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Connections
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Born
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Died
April 20, 2004 (aged 85) -
Nationality
United States -
Religion
Catholic
Awards
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Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award; Four Freedoms Award - Freedom of Speech; George Polk Award Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award; Freedom Award; Pulitzer Prize for Commentary
The Pulitzer Prize for Commentary is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Journalism.The Pulitzer Prize for Commentary is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Journalism.