Print HOF

William Woo – 2009

William Woo was the first person to serve as editor of the Post-Dispatch who was not a Pulitzer family member. He was also the first Asian-American to edit a major U.S. paper. His 34-year tenure at the paper was highlighted by his highly personal Sunday column, “A Reflection,” in which he wrote about his family and watching his children grow. It was during a strike that shut down the Post that Bill Woo became editor of St. Louis Today, a strike paper. After leaving the Post in 1996, Woo made his mark as a mentor and journalism professor to hundreds of students in the Stanford University Graduate Journalism Program. He was also visiting professor of journalism at the University of Hong Kong and a Nieman Fellow at Harvard.

Virginia Irwin – 2014

Working for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Virginia Irwin was the first woman reporter to sneak into Berlin to cover the Russian Army’s invasion of the German capital. She reached Berlin three days before Adolf Hitler committed suicide. Unfortunately, her stories were held-up by the U.S. Army for 10 days until after Germany’s surrender on May 7, 1945. The first of her three stories finally splashed across the Post’s front page the next day to the delight of Publisher Joseph Pulitzer II, who rewarded Irwin by giving her an extra year’s pay as a bonus.

Nathan Young, Jr. – 2006

Nathan Young’s enduring media legacy was the founding of the St. Louis American in 1928. As a practicing attorney, and later a judge, Young spent much of his time researching facts. When not in court, he would delve into court records, newspaper files and history books, talking with anyone he could meet about their memories of life in early St. Louis. He turned his findings into books, poetry and music. Mr. Young wrote for the St. Louis American for more than 40 years. The often violent racial unrest that afflicted many Northern cities in the 1920s and 1930s made newspapers like his St. Louis American, published by and for the black community, a necessary part of people’s lives.

Antonio Lombardo – 2014

Antonio Lombardo took the helm of Il Pensiero (The Thought), the only Italian- language newspaper in Missouri and Southern Illinois — and one of very few in the U.S. — since 1967. His bi-monthly newspaper served as a mainstay in St. Louis’s Italian-American community for more than 110 years. Published in Italian and English, Il Pensiero helped members of the Italian-American community maintain their strong Italian heritage throughout the region.

Chic Young – 2010

Murat Bernard “Chic” Young graduated from McKinley High School after serving on the yearbook staff for four years, but he had to go to New York to find his fame. After working as a $22 per week bullpen artist, he ended up at King Features, where Young eventually created the Blondie cartoon strip on September 8, 1930, which is now syndicated in 55 countries. Although he once referred to Blondie as “just a comic strip,” Young’s creation had an effect on society, with a radio show and movie later based on the strip. The strip even contributed to culinary history with the creation of the Dagwood sandwich

Sue Ann Wood – 2012

Sue Ann Wood was a great reporter who covered thousands of stories, including the sensational kidnapping of six-year-old Robert “Bobby” Greenlease, Jr. in 1953.

She also climbed to the top of the Gateway Arch in 1965 to cover the installation of the final stainless steel wedge to complete the 630-foot-high monument.

Her success as a reporter led to her being named the first female city editor of a major daily, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. She later became just the second woman in the country to hold the position of managing editor at a major daily.

In 1983, Sue Ann moved to the Post-Dispatch, where she served as a highly respected editor until her retirement in 1999.