Comments on: “In her own words . . .” A tribute to Mary Sampas http://www.richardhowe.com/2012/04/25/in-her-own-words-a-tribute-to-mary-sampas/ Lowell Politics and Lowell History Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:51:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: nancye tuttle http://www.richardhowe.com/2012/04/25/in-her-own-words-a-tribute-to-mary-sampas/comment-page-1/#comment-13492 nancye tuttle Fri, 27 Apr 2012 02:02:36 +0000 http://www.richardhowe.com/?p=15038#comment-13492 Not to sound trite, but I was honored to be invited to be a reader at the marvelous Mary Sampas tribute last night at the Whistler House. Mary always mentored and encouraged me during our years together at The Sun. And even though she was not in the newsroom, I always felt close to her, often having the opportunity to "input" her typewritten columns into the paper's computer system, after she'd submitted the hard copy to the receptionist in our Kearney Square lobby. Occasionally, when I filled in as a copy editor when one of the editors was on vacation, I even got to edit her prosaic prose. I never changed a syllable and only checked for typos. My dearest Mary memory goes back to September, 2010, when I spent three or four hours with her in her Christian Hill home re-hashing the stories and connections she'd made in her long, long career. Jim Campanini had asked me to do a feature on Mary - the Helen Thomas of Lowell, he called her - for a front page Sun spread. Indeed, Mary was the Helen, Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Katie Coric and every other prominent female journalist's counterpart on the Lowell scene. She loved the story I wrote and let me know it profusely. I was thrilled, of course. What a reward for a fellow female journalist who'll always aspire, but likely never, reach the pinnacle that Mary Sampas did in long, prolific, successful career in Lowell. Not to sound trite, but I was honored to be invited to be a reader at the marvelous Mary Sampas tribute last night at the Whistler House. Mary always mentored and encouraged me during our years together at The Sun. And even though she was not in the newsroom, I always felt close to her, often having the opportunity to “input” her typewritten columns into the paper’s computer system, after she’d submitted the hard copy to the receptionist in our Kearney Square lobby. Occasionally, when I filled in as a copy editor when one of the editors was on vacation, I even got to edit her prosaic prose. I never changed a syllable and only checked for typos. My dearest Mary memory goes back to September, 2010, when I spent three or four hours with her in her Christian Hill home re-hashing the stories and connections she’d made in her long, long career. Jim Campanini had asked me to do a feature on Mary – the Helen Thomas of Lowell, he called her – for a front page Sun spread. Indeed, Mary was the Helen, Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Katie Coric and every other prominent female journalist’s counterpart on the Lowell scene. She loved the story I wrote and let me know it profusely. I was thrilled, of course. What a reward for a fellow female journalist who’ll always aspire, but likely never, reach the pinnacle that Mary Sampas did in long, prolific, successful career in Lowell.

]]> By: Kosta http://www.richardhowe.com/2012/04/25/in-her-own-words-a-tribute-to-mary-sampas/comment-page-1/#comment-13484 Kosta Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:24:05 +0000 http://www.richardhowe.com/?p=15038#comment-13484 A number of Mary's columns also found their way in the online culture magazine "Bridge Review" that Paul Marion and I edited some years back. These are mainly personality sketches of people from 1958 - to 1959 - and whom you're bound to remember. Cut and paste: http://ecommunity.uml.edu/bridge/review5/m_sampas/index.htm A number of Mary’s columns also found their way in the online culture magazine “Bridge Review” that Paul Marion and I edited some years back. These are mainly personality sketches of people from 1958 – to 1959 – and whom you’re bound to remember. Cut and paste:

http://ecommunity.uml.edu/bridge/review5/m_sampas/index.htm

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