"Winnie" McLendon, newspaperwoman, magazine writer, author and literary agent, died March 1

Winzola "Winnie" Poole McLendon, a veteran newspaperwoman, magazine writer, author and literary agent, died March 1 at her home in Washington, D.C. Her family did not divulge her age.

McLendon was a 61-year member of the National Press Club and its predecessor organization, the Women's National Press Club/Washington Press Club. A Golden Owl member of the NPC, in retirement she served on the Travel Committee and led several overseas trips for the Club. She often was accompanied by her husband of 58 years, retired Navy Capt. John Benjamin McLendon, who died in 1993.

A native of Cardwell, Mo., Winnie McLendon grew up in Magnum, Okla., Oklahoma City and Long Beach, Calif. Her first journalism job was with The Honolulu Advertiser in the 1940s and she later wrote for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Washington Post.

At The Post, she was a writer with the women's section, the forerunner of the Style section. One of her responsibilities was covering First Ladies, beginning with Mamie Eisenhower and continuing through Jacqueline Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, Betty Ford and Rosalynn Carter. In 1974 McLendon conducted the first interview with Pat Nixon in San Clemente, Calif. after her husband resigned from the
presidency. To her surprise, the former President joined the interview himself.

While covering the Nixon White House, McLendon befriended Martha Mitchell, the controversial wife of Attorney General John Mitchell, and later wrote a best-selling biography, "Martha: The Life of Martha Mitchell." She also co-authored "Don't Quote Me: Washington Newswomen and the Power Society."

McLendon was a frequent contributor to a number of major magazines, including em>Look, Ladies Home Journal, McCall's, Town and Country, and Good Housekeeping. She also was a literary agent, representing a number of Washington-based writers.