A tribute to Nancy Maynard, a Famous Black Newspaper Journalist

When I asked a group of college journalism students to name African-American journalism pioneers, names such as Ed Bradley, Bryant Gumbel and Oprah Winfrey came quickly.

Unfortunately, Nancy Hicks Maynard's name wasn't on the tip of their tongues, but this media trailblazer's story needs to be shared over and over again with students.

Her life's story could be a movie or bestselling book. Maynard, the daughter of a black jazz musician and a white nurse, became The New York Times' first black reporter in 1968. Her reporting assignments ranged from covering black student takeovers at Columbia and Cornell universities to medical issues in China.

She resigned from The New York Times in 1977 to help start the Institute for Journalism Education and became the institute's first president. She has a Wikipedia profile, and she also deserves a "MediaMaker" profile on www.thehistorymakers.com.

Nancy Hicks Maynard is one of the few African-American women I know who moved from the newsroom to major media ownership. She and her late husband Robert Maynard were once co-publishers and owners of the Pulitzer-Prize winning Oakland Tribune.

Journalism isn't just the first draft of history. It's about sharing stories and making a difference. That's why I'm writing this tribute to a remarkable woman, mother, journalist, educator and business strategist who died Sept. 21 at age 61. Her memorial service is Friday, Oct. 3, in New York City, and part of her legacy will long live via the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, which is based in Oakland, Calif.

I'm proud to be one of the thousands of journalists of color who benefited from reporting, editing and management training at MIJE programs.

I shall never forget my introduction to Nancy Hicks Maynard and her late husband Robert Maynard in 1982. They were a dynamic, charming and graceful duo whose work was legendary in The New York Times and Washington Post. She could see that I was nervous and offered me a cup of tea to soothe my nerves during the interview for the editing program.

The Maynards also were the first African-American publishers I ever met. To me, they were the royal family of journalism. They were the first African-American couple to buy a major metropolitan daily, the Oakland Tribune, in a management leveraged buy-out in 1983 and they sold the paper in 1992 to the Alameda Newspaper Group.

When she asked what I wanted to do in journalism back in 1982, I replied that I wanted to tell stories, change the world and maybe become a publisher too. At the time, I didn't have a clue what a publisher did. Little did I know that she and Robert Maynard had the vision, wisdom, connections and resources to help me and other reporters, editors and media managers of color find our way and make dreams come true.

With training from the Maynard family, Gannett and others, I moved from reporter to editing gigs and then publisher. It was a wonderful journey for more than 25 years as I got to see the world, earned a variety of writing awards and became a three-time Gannett president ring winner for excellence as a publisher.

The Maynards inspired and challenged me to help make the world a better place. That's why I'm dedicated to helping develop the next generation of talent for the news and information industry.

In addition to her passion for public service, one of the things I loved about Nancy Hicks Maynard was her passion for learning so I wasn't surprised when she got her law degree from Stanford University in 1987. After her husband's death in 1993, she continued to do some consulting and authored "Mega Media: How Market Forces Are Transforming News."

I and many others are eternally grateful to Nancy and Robert Maynard for helping transform and diversify the nation's newsrooms.

Perhaps Dorothy Gilliam, a friend, former Washington Post columnist and co-founder of the MIJE, said it best when she wrote: "I think we all honor best the giant legacy of Nancy, one of the most brilliant strategists among the pioneering minority journalists, by continuing the fight for a full, diverse and accurate portrayal of communities of color as America becomes a majority-minority nation."

Dorothy Bland is the director of the journalism division at Florida A&M University.