Miami Herald’s Margaria Fichtner Retires
Her FB post made me wonder and sure enough, the Miami Herald’s Margaria Fichtner has retired. She served in many positions at the newspaper, most recently its Arts Editor.
Here is a great post about her. This was my favorite part: “But, we simply could not allow more than four decades of such talent, tradition and history walk out the door without note. Especially since she was once Herald Club Editor. As in: she handled coverage of women’s clubs, a truly astounding concept on several levels.” (For me, this was a moment of admiration for a woman who had witnessed such change since her start in 1968.)
I was sad to see her gone from the Herald. For me, Margaria was a connection to the women of the Herald who paved the way for later women journalists. She helped me understand Marie Anderson, a favorite research subject, in a new way as I only knew Marie through her papers. She knew of the other women I have studied: Dorothy Jurney, Marjorie Paxson, Jeanne Voltz and my current subject, Helen Muir.
I remember when Margaria emailed me that Miami Herald furnishings writer Jo Werne had died. I had read so many of Werne’s articles and felt so connected to the Herald women, that I cried upon hearing the news. I remember thinking that I was comforted that I heard it from Margarita and not just reading the newspaper obituary.
I was just thinking about Margaria as I read one of Jo’s letters last week. (She had written to the director of the Penney-Missouri Awards after one of her articles won a reporting prize in 1973.) It was smart and funny and included a personal comment. She wrote that she was about to get married to Charles and pondered about the wedding location as her family was in Ohio and his family was in Texas. I was wondering if the nuptials ever took place.
Happy retirement, Margaria. Thank you for your helpful emails and please stay on FB, in case Miami Herald history help is needed.
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