We Remember . . . Memorials to The Ann Faragher Sweepstakes Award Fund may be sent to PWT, Kay Casey, P O Box 173, Denison, TX 75021

Martha Swain Reed

1930-2008

By Tara Sullivan, Reprinted by Permission of The Baytown Sun

Martha Swain Reed, 78, died December 29, 2008 at Christus Hospital St. Elizabeth. She is survived by her husband of thirty-four years, Charles Gordon Reed; daughters, Rebecca Hemphill Sanders of Beaumont, Ann Hemphill Spencer of Beaumont; son, Steven Earl Hemphill and his wife Dawn of Austin; three granddaughters, five great grandchildren, her brother, Emmett Conway Swain Jr.; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

She will be remembered for encouraging her children to achieve college educations, be prepared for professional careers they could also enjoy, contribute to civic activities and set goals that prepared them for varied futures.

She and Charlie enjoyed worldwide travel, cruises and excursions to historic sites.

Her parents, Emmett Conway Swain Sr. and Ysleta Spurlock Swain of Houston, preceded her in death, as did her grandparents. Martha was a third-generation member of the Cedar Bayou Methodist Church, one of the first Methodist churches chartered after Texas won it's independence from Mexico.

Born September 8, 1930 in Houston, Martha began her award-winning writing career as the Third Grade Reporter of the Houston YWCA Day Camp. She was a reporter for the Oakdale, Louisiana, weekly newspaper before becoming an editor of the Baytown Sun. She came to Beaumont in 1972 as an editor of the Beaumont Enterprise and Journal. She brought change to the typical "society" and "women's" sections as lifestyles for women and technology changed during the 1970s and '80s. As a communications major at Texas Christian University, she appeared on the first live television program ever broadcast in Texas and wrote, directed and produced the firstchildren's weekly television program in the state. She also studied education at the University of Houston.

Following seven years at the Beaumont newspapers, she enjoyed a variety of positions in communications and public relations at the Port Arthur School District, the McFaddin-Ward House, Lamar University's John Gray Center, and retired from Lamar University in 1993 as director of publications and an adjunct professor in communications. As an editor at the Baytown Sun, she began a prize-winning writing career which

continued until her retirement.

She was president of Texas Press Women and in 1979-1981 president of the National Federation of Press Women. She was the first Sweepstakes winner of the Excellence in Media Awards presented by the Press Club of Southeast Texas in 1993. Martha was chosen as a consultant for the development of USA Today in the 1970s.

She was honored by governors as a 1984 Texas First Woman of Beaumont, a Kentucky Colonel, an admiral in the Nebraska Navy, a Sagamore of the Wabash in Indiana, a First Amendment Protector by the mayor of Philadelphia and an honorary U.S. Army Recruiter when she served as a consultant to returning veterans at the War College in Pennsylvania. The National Federation of Press Women named Martha as an Outstanding Communicator of the Century. Martha was a Texas Press Women's Woman of Achievement, an international honorary member of Beta Sigma Phi, a former member of PEO and was president of several organizations the Spindletop Stitchers, a chapter of the Embroidery Guild of America. She served on the boards of directors of the Beaumont

Convention and Visitors Bureau, Sabine Oaks Senior Retirement Center, Beaumont Art Museum and assisted the Beaumont Junior League in expanding the debutante ball and monthly luncheon fundraiser.

As a delegate to the First Amendment Congress in Philadelphia and Williamsburg, she was a vocal supporter of equal opportunities for women and access to public information for members of the press. She arranged trips to China and Russia for NFPW members who counseled reporters and editors about the United States Constitution?s First Amendment demand for open meetings and records of public interest and the need for such information to flow freely in those countries.

Princess Grace of Monaco and movie actor John Wayne were her favorite interview subjects. During her retirement, Martha enjoyed learning

Japanese silk embroidery, needle pointing Christmas stockings for her grandchildren and great grandchildren, playing duplicate bridge and

collecting antique needle cases. A memorial service celebrating Martha's life was held, January 2, 2009 at Broussard?s, 1605 N. Major Drive, Beaumont followed by a toast and light reception. A gathering of family and friends preceeded the service.

Memorial donations may be made in the name of Martha S. Reed to Texas Children's Hospital, 6621 Fannin Street, Houston, Texas 77030, in honor of the Carpenter and Griffin great grandchildren.

The Baytown Sun Published January 2, 2009

She was just as likely found in Communist China as a Plumwood or Eva Maude Garden Club meeting, and though she's passed, the legacy of Baytown's Martha Swain Reed (formerly Martha Hemphill) endures.

Her life was spread over pinnacle periods in the evolution of media and women in society: She appeared on the first live television program broadcast in Texas in 1949 as a student reporter, was among the first Americans to travel to the communist People's Republic of China, fought to preserve First Amendment rights, and had a hand in the development of USA Today. An inspiration to some and a friend to many, Martha's career launched in Southeast Texas.

Reed, who was 78 when she passed Monday, began her journalism career as the women's editor for the Baytown Sun in 1964. She oversaw the society section of the paper, which lives on today as the Life & Style page. A feature of most newspapers of the time, Martha brought sweeping changes to the women's section. Just as the 1970s and '80s welcomed a new breed of career women, the society section began to morph. Though feminine pieces on weddings and clubs remained a section staple, feature pieces on celebrities and entertainers began to appear. She interviewed John Wayne, Elvis Presley and Princess Grace of Monaco: pieces that held a captive audience of either gender.

Former Baytown Sun managing editor Jim Finley, who was a new wire editor in the sports department in 1969, said he remembered Martha most for her talent. In her pieces, Martha would eloquently draw readers in, enwrapping them in choice words and quotable passages.

Though she preferred feature pieces to the seamy side of life, Martha had a nose for news.

Shortly after leaving the Baytown Sun to become editor of the Beaumont Enterprise and Journal, she was elected president of the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW) and toured Communist China. During her two-year term as president of the NFPW, the organization tallied in their highest membership count to date. Photographs of Martha with China Ambassador Leonard Woodcock and of her showing a group of interested Red Chinese her camera ran alongside newspaper coverage of her visit, painting Martha as a women dedicated to freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

"I believe strongly in the people's right to know. I think some reporters don't even realize the significance," Martha said in a 1979interview printed in the Baytown Sun.

Austin's Alan Erwin, now an accomplished fiction writer, remembers working under Martha's guidance as a student reporter during his high school years at Robert E. Lee. During the 1960's and '70's, Goose Creek high school and middle school students were invited to submit columns for publication, concerning the happenings at their respective schools. With Martha's guidance, Erwin found a passion for writing and after graduation, moved in as a full time Baytown Sun reporter. He remembers one incident that forever impressed an appreciation for journalism in his heart.

"It was during the Cuban missile crisis, when sales of anything to Cuba were embargoed that the British Ambassador to the U.S. came to Lee College," Erwin said. "It was rumored that the British were selling buses to Cuba, so I asked the guy if they were and he said 'yeah.'" Floored by the admission of Britain's violation of the embargo, Erwin remembered nervously pandering into Martha's office.

"I wasn't sure if that was a story or not, and Martha said it was," Erwin said. Within hours of his story about Britain's first admittance to selling buses to Cuba, the story was hot on the AP wire.

"It was a significant thing and the first time reporting got in myblood," Erwin said.

Glena Pfinnig, another who would later move into the position of managing editor for the Baytown Sun, said Martha was a mentor "long before" the term was coined. Pfinnig fondly remembers Martha's sense of humor, as the two would collect interesting phrases from brides-to-be for the society section

wedding write-ups.

"Our collection was so humorous that Martha Ann talked about writing a book called "The Bridesmaids Wore Lemon Leaves," using one of the phrases from the write-up because the bride-elect only described this aspect of the clothing," Pfinnig said.

After building an impressive career in the newspaper business, Martha dabbled in communications and public relations often termed 'sell out

positions' by the journalism world. But such was not the case for Martha.

She worked within the National Federation of Press Women and other such journalistic organizations, and garnered such titles as Outstanding

Communicator of the Century, First Amendment Protector, and was the first Sweepstakes winner of the Excellence in Media Awards.

In 1980, Martha was among the delegates of the First Amendment Congress in Philadelphia and Williamsburg, during a time when free speech in the media was in the spotlight after Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger knocked a camera from the shoulder of a TV cameraman asking him questions about an alleged conversation he had with former President Richard Nixon. Aside from fighting to preserve freedom of speech in America, Martha was among only handfuls of non-military Americans to travel to Communist China and Russia, where she spoke about open meetings and public records, and the importance of transparency to all.

When she wasn't traveling abroad and fighting for journalist rights, Martha resided in Baytown and Beaumont, where she enjoyed gardening. She was an early member of both Baytown's Plumwood and Eva Maud Garden clubs which have since merged, and made a trip to Goose Creek Country Club in May for the Plumwood-Eva Maud Garden Club 50th Anniversary luncheon. Member Betty Holland, who knew Martha personally, said she remembered even during that final visit how Martha's humor still shone brightly.

"We got to talking about a time her youngest son was in the first grade and she was working at the Baytown Sun," Holland said. "Everyday after school, he would call Martha at the paper. One day he told his mother he had a letter for her, and she asked, 'Well what does it say'" He replied, "Well, I don?t know, I can"t read."

Among Martha"s many friends, similar merry musings gushed in lieu of sorrow. They remembered Martha as an outgoing, warm friend who loved life and valued everyone with whom her path crossed. After regaling their time spent with this influential media pioneer, a repeated utterance came in memory of Martha Swain Reed:

"The world has lost a talented woman."