Maine Press Association inducts three into Hall of Fame
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
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