Helen Dewar (1936-2006)

Helen Dewar reported on Virginia politics when I began reading the Washington Post and during my first years in Richmond working for the state legislature. She was my first outside perspective on Virginia after growing up immersed in the local culture and lore. Hers was a much needed counter balance. She died November 4 at age 70.

Whether on the Hill or at a political convention, she was willing to do any job that needed to be done, said Post political columnist David Broder, who called her "one of the best reporters I ever knew.

"The thing that was notable to me about Helen . . . is she owned two very different beats, as a reporter on Virginia politics and government, and then she became the definitive Senate reporter. There was never any question among her colleagues that she learned more and had better judgment while she was on those beats than anyone else."

Tough on her editors as well as her sources, Ms. Dewar was an old-fashioned reporter whose clear prose and determination seemed almost anachronistic in an age of multimedia skills and self-promotion. A veteran of hallway stakeouts and midnight votes, she was reliable on deadline, developed authoritative sources and eschewed "gotcha" journalism, her editors said. Her scrupulous fairness earned her friends in both major political parties.

Thank you, Helen.

[crossposted]