Maine Press Association inducts three into Hall of Fame

Thu, 10/08/2015 - 11:45am

    The Maine Press Association will induct three new members into its Hall of Fame at its annual meeting and conference, set for Saturday, Oct. 17, at the Hilton Garden Inn.

    Inductees include Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram writer and columnist Bill Nemitz, Bob Kalish, formerly of The Times Record in Brunswick, and Lou Ureneck, who's career included stints with the Press Herald, and the Evening Express in Portland and with the Maine Sunday Telegram.

    Both Nemitz and Ureneck have previously been honored by MPA as Maine's Journalist of the Year.

    Kalish's career included covering Hollywood for Daily Variety, serving as a war correspondent in Thailand during Vietnam, and working in television and radio in Chicago. At the Record, he drove hard-hitting coverage of the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Plant and the Brunswick Naval Air Station. Along the way he mentored multiple generations of young journalists including several that went to earn key journalism fellowships or be honored as Journalist of the Year.

    In retirement, he continues to write for newspapers including essays published in The Boston Globe.

    Bill Nemitz began his career in Maine journalism in 1977 as a reporter for the Morning Sentinel in Waterville. He moved to Portland in 1983, working as a reporter for the Evening Express before moving up to positions as city editor and sports editor for the Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram. A past president of MPA, Nemitz began writing a column that made him one of Maine’s best-known journalists in 1995.

    He reported from Northern Ireland at the end of the Troubles, from Manhattan in the aftermath of 9/11, from the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, from Haiti after its destructive earthquake and from Boston in the hours after the marathon bombing.

    Four times, Nemitz went to the Middle East and embedded with members of the Maine Army National Guard.

    A native of New Jersey and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, Lou Ureneck got his feet wet during a brief stint at the Providence Journal before coming to Maine in 1974 to begin his career at the Gannett Papers in Portland, including the Press Herald, the Evening Express and the Maine Sunday Telegram.

    After leaving Maine in the mid-90s, Ureneck became editor-in-residence at the Nieman Foundation at Harvard and served as page-one editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer before becoming a professor at the Boston University’s School of Journalism.

    Ureneck has written three books, including a memoir about building a cabin in the Maine wilderness. His latest book, “The Great Fire,” is an account of the post-World War I destruction of the Turkish city of Smyrna and the systematic killing of 3 million Christians.

    The official Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held at a luncheon during the conference on Oct. 17 at 12:30 p.m. Tickets are available by contacting MPA Executive Director Diane Norton at mainepressmail@gmail.com or call 207-691-0131.

    Maine Press Hall of Fame Members

    J. Russell Wiggins, publisher, The Ellsworth American

    John Gould, columnist, Christian Science Monitor

    Guy P. Gannett, founder, Gannett newspapers

    Erwin Canham, editor, Christian Science Monitor

    Brooks Hamilton, University of Maine journalism department head

    Henry and Eula Shorey, owners, The Bridgton News

    Harry Foote, owner and editor, American Journal

    Gene Letourneau, outdoor columnist, Guy Gannett newspapers

    Ralph “Bud” Leavitt, outdoor writer, editor, Bangor Daily News

    Elijah Parish Lovejoy, abolitionist editor from Albion, Maine

    Peter Cox and John Cole, founders, Maine Times

    Walter E. Mattson, president, The New York Times Co.

    Alexander Bacon “Sandy” Brook, owner, York County Coast Star

    May Craig, Washington correspondent, Portland Press Herald

    Barbara N. Yeaton, correspondent, Sun Journal and The Franklin Journal

    Bill Langzetell, The Associated Press correspondent

    Don Larrabee, congressional correspondent

    Robert G. “Bob” Drake, editor, Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel

    Sam and Abby Roberts, owners, The Lincoln County News

    Davis S. Rawson, political reporter and editorial writer

    Jerry Durnbaugh, owner, Blue Hill Weekly Packet

    Daniel S. Dexter, editor and editorial writer, Lewiston Journal

    Douglas E. Kneeland, reporter and editor, The New York Times

    Dick Doyle, sportswriter, Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram

    Wayne Jordan, founder, University of Maine journalism department

    Jack Faulkner, editor, Northeast Publishing

    Kent Ward, reporter, editor, columnist, Bangor Daily News

    Raymond E. Gross, editor and publisher, The Courier-Gazette

    Lillis Towle Jordan, publisher, Bangor Daily News

    David Lamb, national and foreign correspondent, Los Angeles Times

    A. Stephen Riley, editor and reporter, Guy Gannett newspapers, MPA executive secretary

    Dwight E. Sargent, editorial page writer and editor, curator of the Nieman Foundation

    Bill Caldwell, columnist, Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram

    Bob Saunders, editor and reporter, Journal Tribune

    Sheila Tenggren, editor and publisher, Lincoln News

    Peter Damborg Jr., State House reporter, Guy Gannett newspapers

    Robert Moorehead, general manager, Morning Sentinel

    Ted Sylvester, Rockland bureau chief, Bangor Daily News

    Robert B. Beith, editor, publisher, Guy Gannett newspapers

    Jim Brunelle, political reporter, columnist and commentator

    Campbell B. Niven, publisher, The Times Record

    Polly Ouimet, news editor, Lewiston Sun Journal

    James R. Costello, publisher, Sun Media Group

    Robert K. Diebold, editor, The Penobscot Times

    Clayton LaVerdiere, columnist and reporter, Central Maine Morning Sentinel

    John K. Murphy, executive editor, Portland Press Herald

    Bill Clark, columnist, Guy Gannett newspapers

    Bob DeLong, photographer, Bangor Daily News

    Don Levesque, editor and publisher, St. John Valley Times

    Beurmond Banville, reporter, Bangor Daily News

    David Bourque, sports editor, Brunswick Times Record

    Seba Smith, editor, Portland Courier, Maine’s first daily newspaper

    Mary Brewer, managing editor, Boothbay Register and Wiscasset Newspaper

    Ann B. McGowan, managing editor, Morning Sentinel

    Don Hansen, editorial page director, Guy Gannett newspapers

    Scott Haskell, photographer, Bangor Daily News

    Emery “Legs” Labbe, sports editor, publisher, St. John Valley Times