National Press Club

Richard Phillips, the American ship captain captured by Somali pirates in 2009 and rescued by Navy Seals, described his experience at an Oct. 10 National Press Club Newsmaker, meanwhile advocating Congressional budget support for the merchant marine.

A movie starring Tom Hanks, scheduled for Oct. 11 release, tells the captain's story.

Phillips said Hanks did a great job in the film, specifically because his eyes reveal the fear and attempt to regain control during the 12 hours the captain was alone with four pirates in a lifeboat.

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There is no better time than the present to improve civic education in schools and youth organizations, declared the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) in a report released at a National Press Club Newsmaker Oct. 9.

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Neal Keny-Guyer, chief executive officer of Mercy Corps, an international NGO and responder to the Syria crisis, called the situation in Syria “the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis,” at a National Press Club Newsmaker, Oct. 8.

“The speed of the refugee crisis in Syria is the worst we’ve seen since the Rwandan genocide, and the current funding pledged is grossly inadequate to meet the needs,” he said.

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Andrea Mitchell, chief foreign affairs correspondent for NBC News and host of MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” received the National Press Club’s most prestigious honor, the Fourth Estate Award, at a gala dinner at the Club Oct. 4.

The veteran newswoman was the 41st recipient of the award, which is presented annually to a journalist in recognition for significant contributions to the journalism profession.

In Mitchell’s case, the award also was a recognition of the advancements of women in journalism and in the National Press Club over the past 30 years.

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Several hundred people who jammed the National Press Club Saturday, Oct. 5, to pay tribute to the late, groundbreaking journalist Helen Thomas, were treated to humorous, poignant stories about her from a host of her prominent friends – among them ABC News reporter Sam Donaldson, PBS “News Hour” anchor Judy Woodfuff, USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page, actress Diane Ladd and present “Dear Abby” columnist Jeanne Phillips.

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Most people believe the religion of their parents and that is “totally arbitrary,” Richard Dawkins told a Club Book Rap Sept. 30.

Dawkins was at the Press Club promoting his new book, ``An Appetite for Wonder.'' The book is part one of his autobiography. Part two should be available in a couple of years, he said.

Sally Quinn, editor-in-chief of the Washington Post’s “On Faith” Blog, interviewed Dawkins. Quinn said she decided she was an atheist at age 5. It took Dawkins a bit longer, until the age of 17 to reach the same conclusion, she said.

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Equinox restaurant co-owners Todd Gray and Ellen Kassoff Gray teamed up with Club Executive Chef Susan Delbert to host a sold-out dinner featuring dishes from the Grays’ latest cookbook, The New Jewish Table, in the Fourth Estate Restaurant on Sept. 25.

After the dinner, Kassoff Gray called it “one of the best dinners we have ever done - and we have done close to 1,000.”

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U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan challenged Congress to "see education as a critical investment for our nation winning the race for the future" at a Sept. 30 Club Luncheon.

"Right now, I believe our country faces stark choices," he said. "We can continue to play politics with the budget and the debt ceiling, or we can fund a federal government that Americans can count on.'' He said ``other countries get this, they're greatly expanding preschool and strengthening teacher preparation."

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Recent winners of the Pulitzer Prize, the biggest awards in journalism, shared their stories with Club members Sept. 23 at a forum sponsored by the Professional Development Committee.

The winners said hat their Pulitzer Prize-winning stories started with a germ of an idea, a piece of a story that they followed and just felt was bigger than it seemed at first.

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Americans need to stop being silent about the hundreds of murders each year, the majority of which are African-American young men killing other African-Americans, two urban Democratic mayors told a National Press Club Luncheon Sept. 26.

Civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Representative John Lewis, D-Ga., ``did not take a beating for this drumbeat of death and violence to become a way of life,” New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said.

In Philadelphia, 236 African-American males were murdered in 2012, said the mayor of that city, Michael Nutter.

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