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Marino de Medici, 89
Marino de Medici, long-time correspondent for Italy's Il Tempo Newspapers and dean of Washington's foreign press corps, died Nov. 15 at his home in Winchester, Virginia. He was 89. He was a member of the National Press Club for nearly 52 years and was a frequent diner at the Reliable Source restaurant. The cause of death was cancer, his wife Nicki Furlan de Medici told The Washington Post. According to the Post, he came to the U.S. in 1954 as a Fulbright scholar while working for the Il Messaggero newspaper, got his bachelor's and master's degrees in the U.S., and returned to Italy to work…
Type: News
Barnes made Club members, colleagues smile
Donahue Barnes often made other people smile because of his joyful outlook each day. He had an infectious laugh and a ready grin. That is why he’ll be missed around the National Press Club, where he served on the staff as a houseman. He died in mid-December at 68. More than a dozen of his Club colleagues attended his funeral service. Donnie, as he was known, set up the rooms that the Club uses as stage sets for events. He moved tall stacks of chairs and rolled circular tables and built risers. He smoothed linens and set skirting and hung banners. He brought considerable enthusiasm and panache…
Type: News
A performance by Mark Russell sold out Club events
Mark Russell performed at National Press Club luncheons, presidential inaugurals and Silver Owl Hoots, such as the one above on May 3, 2016. Photo: Gil Klein Mark Russell may have been renowned nationwide when the comedian and political satirist died March 30 at the age of 90. But at the National Press Club, long-time members remember his special affection for the Club and his many, many appearances at Silver Owls events, luncheon speeches and Club presidential inaugurals – including mine in 1994. Just announcing he was appearing assured a sell-out event. Russell was well known for…
Type: News
Golden Owl Bruce Agnew dies at age 89
Bruce Andras Agnew, a member of the National Press Club for more than 60 years, died at age 89 on New Year’s Day. “My dad worked until 2023, pretty much up to his passing,” said his daughter, Eleanor Agnew Kotler. Agnew began his 60-year journalist career as a reporter in New York in 1958; then he moved to Washington, D.C. in 1962, where he covered Capitol Hill and the White House. He was a member of the White House Press Corps from 1962 through 1985 for several publications, including United Press International, the New York Post, and McGraw Hill’s World News and BusinessWeek. Highlights of…
Type: News
Lester, longtime Awards Team chair, dies at age 71
Will Lester was a political reporter at The Associated Press before becoming a desk editor in the Washington bureau. Will Lester, who led the National Press Club’s journalism awards program for many years, died unexpectedly Wednesday. He was 71. Lester won the Club’s highest volunteer honor, the Berny Krug Award, in 2013 for his work as chair of the Awards Team. First appointed to the role in 2011, Lester held the position for 10 years. He introduced new awards categories – such as breaking news and photography – and oversaw a significant increase in the number of contest entries. “I met…
Type: News
Platinum Owl, ABC Network exec George Watson died June 1
George Watson, who was a National Press Club member for more than 60 years while he pursued his career as a national and international correspondent and ABC News executive, died June 1. He was 86. A graduate of Harvard University, where he was managing editor of The Harvard Crimson, and of Columbia University’s graduate journalism program, Watson began his broadcast journalism career in 1962 with ABC News in Washington after working for the Detroit News and The Washington Post. Watson joined the Club in 1961, according to Club records. He maintained his membership continuously, even while…
Type: News
Frank Albert, retired foreign affairs consultant, dies at age 82
The family of Frank Albert wanted to share the news of his passing on June 15, 2023, in Washington, D.C., with National Press Club members. Albert was a Communicator member of the Club for 22 years, joining in July 2001. At the time of his death, he was a retired foreign affairs consultant who had worked at the U.S. Information Agency and the State Department. Services were held June 26. More information about his life and career are in his obituary.
Type: News
Freedman led Club through Covid, created 'The Kalb Report'
Michael Freedman, who led the National Press Club during the tumultuous opening months of the Covid pandemic and who for 28 years was the driving force and executive producer of the Club’s "The Kalb Report," died Sept. 18. He was 71. The cause was pancreatic cancer, which he had been battling for more than a year. Former National Press Club President Michael Freedman's leadership in 2020 helped the Club survive the pandemic. Even after being diagnosed with cancer, Freedman maintained his work with the Club. During the reception to mark the end of the 28-year-run of "The Kalb Report" with…
Type: News
Donations in lieu of flowers to honor Mike Freedman
The family of former National Press Club President Michael Freedman expressed appreciation this week for the "beautiful messages, tributes, and remembrances of Mike" it has received from his many friends, including Club members. Freedman passed away on Sept. 18 after battling pancreatic cancer for more than a year. His 2020 Club presidency was one of the most pivotal in the Club's history, as he helped the Club survive the pandemic. Michael Freedman's leadership as National Press Club president in 2020 helped the Club survive the pandemic. In lieu of flowers, the Freedman family suggests…
Type: News
John Metelsky, Club photography mainstay for 60 years, dies at 96
John Metelsky, a photographer member of the National Press Club for nearly 60 years, died Oct. 1 at the age of 96. Metelsky, whose colorful life ranged from work on a tugboat to photographing famous speakers at the Club, lived in Silver Spring, Md. "John was a friendly, dedicated, professional photographer whose works are part of the permanent display of photos hanging on the Press Club's walls," said Marshall Cohen, founder of the Club's photography committee who worked with Metelsky on the Club's print newsletter The Record from the 1970s to the 1990s. "He always helpful and cooperative…
Type: News