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From the Morgue
Sharon Sanders
The Southeast Missourian's resident historian Sharon K. Sanders blogs about interesting pieces of local history pulled from the newspaper's morgue -- the place where our old editions are kept.
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Mother's Day roses

Posted Thursday, May 10, 2012, at 12:00 AM

My life has been blessed with strong-willed women. From my mother Frances and my sisters Susan and Jean (who we lost much too soon), to Vicki and Kathy, Renda, Carol and Terri, my women friends are forces to be reckoned with.

But one of the strongest women I have been privileged to know and call friend was Miss Judith Ann Crow, above. For 30-some years, Judy wrote for the Southeast Missourian, reporting on schools, service clubs, and theatrical events.

But it was her column writing that moved me then and continues to do so now, 12 years after the Good Lord called her home.

In January 1979, Judy lost her beloved mother, Alwena. In May of that year, she wrote a column for Mother's Day.

I thought it would make a fitting Mother's Day gift for my readers:

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  • Thank you, Sharon! I shall wear a red rose, as well.

    -- Posted by newgrandma on Thu, May 10, 2012, at 8:53 AM

  • That was an incredibly moving tribute.

    Judy was an extraordinary woman. Life dealt her a bad hand in the health department, but it didn't keep her from being a human dynamo.

    She and Editor John Blue were at opposite ends of the old newsroom, but they both set high standards for the staff: jBlue by the force of his title; Judy by the force of her personality.

    Judy did not suffer fools lightly. I watched her tear into a slacking reporter more than once.

    On the other hand, she was great at stroking your ego.

    I still treasure a yellowing piece of copy paper where she wrote, "Ken -- Ye Old Crow is cawing with pride with the way you handled the [not important] story.... Good show, old Man!"

    She went on to write, "Also, I want to pass along two compliments...

    "I TRIED to behave myself and not act too proud of you, but it was a struggle. jac"

    I almost wore that memo out looking at it.

    Newsroom can be pressure cookers, and Judy's library was where you went to blow off steam. You'd vent about your job, sources that wouldn't call you back, the funny noise your car was making, whatever, she'd listen patiently, maybe chiming in with a piece of advice, then she'd give you the best backrub in the world and send you back out to slay dragons.

    She and Skeets Sonderman were two of the most unique women I ever worked with.

    In this piece on Vandeven's,

    http://www.capecentralhigh.com/cape-photos/itll-always-be-vandevens-to-me/

    I described Skeets this way: "(Skeets, by the way, was a feisty broad (meant as a compliment), who covered government, education and courts in the days when women were usually relegated to the Pink Ghetto of tea parties and church news. Men who demeaned, patronized or underestimated the diminutive Skeets were apt to be found singing soprano in the church choir after Skeets was finished with them.)"

    Sharon, you've done a good job filling her shoes. She'd be proud of you. Just don't let this compliment cause you to get complacent. Judy'll thump you if you do.

    -- Posted by Ken1 on Thu, May 10, 2012, at 8:59 AM

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