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Posted on Tue, Nov 24, 2009 : 9:59 p.m.

Detroit native Helen Thomas says it's 'always good to be home again'

By Ryan J. Stanton

Marilynn Dickerson sat patiently in her chair, arms folded and clutching a copy of Helen Thomas' latest book.

The 89-year-old Scio Township resident was at the front of the line at the Michigan Theater tonight in downtown Ann Arbor to see the veteran journalist and author speak to a packed house.

It turned out Dickerson was waiting to see an old friend.

Helen_Thomas_Michigan.jpg

Helen Thomas spoke to a packed house at the Michigan Theater Tuesday night.

Angela Cesere | AnnArbor.com

"I went to school with her at Wayne," Dickerson said of her time with Thomas at Wayne State University in Detroit. "I graduated in '42. I just knew her as a casual friend, but I knew her well. She was just an awfully nice gal."

Helen Thomas, a veteran White House reporter who has covered the administrations of 10 U.S. presidents since John F. Kennedy, shared tales of her nearly 60 years as a journalist tonight.

She discussed her new book, co-written with veteran journalist Craig Crawford, "Listen Up Mr. President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President to Know and Do." Organizers promised Thomas' sharp humor and candid views would make for a memorable evening.

Thomas delivered.

"I think the real cause of our financial catastrophe is Republicans," she said at one point in the night, drawing applause.

Dressed in all black with a string of pearls on her neck, Thomas said there is far too much secrecy in government - something she says consumes every president upon taking office. She criticized both George W. Bush and Barack Obama for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying her advice to Obama is, "Get out of those wars."

"It's wrong to kill. It's wrong to keep killing without any explanation of why," said Thomas, who believes Obama has lost sight of his own goals.

She bemoaned what she characterized as a "dying newspaper business" where old traditions are being replaced by new digital media and business interests.

"Newspapers are going down the drain, and I think it's a tragedy. I can't live without a newspaper," Thomas said. "Everyone with a laptop these days thinks they're a journalist, and everyone with a cell phone thinks they're a photographer."

Thomas said she fears the death of print newspapers will lead to an uninformed citizenry.

"You cannot have a democracy without informed people, and you have to have reporters out there doing the legwork, asking the questions, especially of the powers that be," she said. "I like to ask presidents questions that make them very unhappy. And my favorite question of all is, 'Why?'"

Thomas, a columnist for Hearst Newspapers, was the first female officer of the National Press Club. She has become known for the tradition of ending all presidential press conferences with her signature, "Thank you, Mr. President."

Thomas said the great presidents in her book are those with a strong conscience and moral compass. She said Kennedy, the first president she covered, was her favorite - despite how crazy she thought he was when he proposed the goal of landing a man on the moon within 10 years.

Thomas mostly dished criticisms tonight. She described Jimmy Carter as a "loner" who didn't know how to "schmooze" with Congress and said he was much better as a "past president."

She recalled Richard Nixon's Watergate scandal and touched on Bill Clinton's sex scandal, concluding: "He won't wind up on Mount Rushmore." She later criticized a "greedy" Wall Street and the "heartlessness" of Congress for "playing politics" with those deprived of health care in the United States.

"Now I think I should lighten up, don't you?" Thomas said, drawing laughs from the audience.

Thomas, a self-described cynic with hope, offered her insights into whether the United States will ever see a female president, predicting there will be many in this century. Though, "I don't want Sarah (Palin)," she declared, drawing laughs.

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Scio Township resident Marilynn Dickerson camped out in the front of the line in a chair she brought to the Michigan Theater to see her old friend Helen Thomas.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

Since Kennedy's presidency, Thomas, who grew up in Detroit, has covered more presidents as a member of the White House Press Corps than any journalist working today.

Dickerson, who last saw Thomas during a 50th anniversary reunion in Detroit in 1992, said she "never ever thought" Thomas would be as famous as she is today.

"When I went to school, there were very few women in positions, so you wouldn't have expected something like that," she said. "I was a business major and there were only six girls in the whole program, so life was different then."

Thomas' hour-long speech captivated the audience, which filled both the floor and the upper balcony of the theater. "When I get to be your age, I hope I have one-tenth of the savvy that you have," one audience member told Thomas just before a standing ovation concluded the evening.

"As far as I'm concerned, Helen Thomas is the best reporter we have in Washington," said Ann Arbor resident Michael Conlin, who sat in the front row. "She seems to ask the real questions - they're down to earth and basically what everybody has on mind, but not what most of the other reporters are asking."

Tonight's free event was co-sponsored by Michigan Radio and the Ann Arbor District Library. The event included a book signing.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.

Comments

Steve Hendel

Wed, Nov 25, 2009 : 8:17 a.m.

Her 'favorite President' was the one who was responsible for: >sending the first American troops, pardon me, "advisors", to Vietnam >the Bay of Pigs >(with Khruschev) almost starting WW3 with their cowboy showdown tactics during the Cuban missile crisis Some people try to off-load the responsibility for things such as these on Presidential "advisors" or "the military," but really; a President is responsible for what happens on their watch. JFK did some good things (the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, for example) but he was, like all of us, not a saint.

Jaded in Ann Arbor

Wed, Nov 25, 2009 : 5:59 a.m.

That silly journalist...always so impartial.

stonecutter1

Wed, Nov 25, 2009 : 2:15 a.m.

Back in my day nickels had pictures of bumble bees on them. Give me five bees for a quarter, we used to say!