Helen Thomas

"Our job is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable."
- Helen Thomas, regarding the role of the press

Helen Thomas was a member of the UPI Press Corps covering the White House from 1960 to 2000. She holds the distinction of having traveled around the world with Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Bush. Since 2000, she has continued to cover the White House for Hearst Publications. Termed by her colleagues the "First Lady of the Press" and the "Grand Inquisitor," Thomas has a reputation as a relentless journalist, and for tenacity.

Thomas has improved the opportunities for women in the media. The July 1999 issue of Biography stated, "As she was covering the Presidents, Thomas also was waging other battles -- usually involving women's rights." She served as the first female officer of the National Press Club after it opened its ranks to women members following a ninety-year span of all-male membership. She was the first female president of the White House Correspondents Association, and in 1975, became the first female member of the Gridiron Club.

Come be comforted or afflicted by this impressive woman privileged to have had "a ringside seat to instant history."

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Previous speakers in this series include Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Jonathan Kozal, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., George E. Will, Ann Simon, Sister Helen Prejean, and Morris Dees.