Marj Heyduck
{{Short description|American journalist (1913–1969)}}
{{Infobox writer
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| name = Marj Heyduck
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| image = Photo of Marj Heyduck.jpg
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| caption = "The Woman in the Hat"
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| birth_name = Marjorie Irene Evers
| birth_date = June 24, 1913
| birth_place = Dayton, Ohio
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1969|09|15|1913|06|24}}
| death_place =
| resting_place = Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum
| occupation = Columnist, journalist
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| alma_mater = Ohio State University
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| years_active = 1936–1969
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Marjorie Irene Evers "Marj" Heyduck (1913–1969) was a reporter, columnist and editor for the Dayton Herald, Dayton Press, Dayton Journal, Dayton Journal-Herald, and Dayton Daily News from 1936 to 1969. She also hosted a radio show from 1939 to 1941.
Early life and education
Heyduck was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1913 to Robert C. Evers and Helen M. Rhoads, one of three children. She graduated from Stivers High School in 1931, and from Ohio State University with a degree in journalism.
Columnist
Heyduck's columns, published under the title "Third and Main," between 1943 and 1969, were "the most popular"{{cite news |title=Al & Marge: A Lighter Look at Ourselves: Hat Happy |work=Dayton Daily News |date=May 24, 1995}} of the paper's morning columns and were collected into three books.{{cite book |last1=Wilmot Voss |first1=Kimberly |title=Re-Evaluating Women's Page Journalism in the Post-World War II Era |date=5 September 2018 |pages=201–202 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9783319962146 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gjBtDwAAQBAJ&q=marj+heyduck&pg=PA201 |accessdate=11 November 2018}} The Dayton Daily News said, "[s]he moved up the ranks at the Journal Herald quickly, but it was her popular column and interesting hats that brought her fame."{{cite news |last1=Huffman |first1=Dale |title=Heyduck was a gem |work=Dayton Daily News |date=January 16, 2006}} Roz Young, who succeeded her, called her "a celebrity. 'Look,' people said in reverent tones ... That's Marj Heyduck.'"{{cite news |last1=Young |first1=Roz |title=World survives, but not as well as before |work=Dayton Daily News |date=May 25, 1996}}
She wrote a feature column on wrestling for the Dayton Herald{{'}}s sports department in the 1940s, and was friends with Gorgeous George, whom she took to her hairdresser to have his famous blond locks restyled. Her columns occasionally covered the elegant "Tea with Marj" events held throughout the area to which she invited "lady wrestlers."
Her career started in 1936 in the women's page department at the Dayton Herald. She moved to the weekly Dayton Press, returned to the Dayton Herald in 1943 as a general assignment reporter, and started her popular column there in 1944. She was named editor of the women's department at the Herald in 1948. When the Dayton Journal and the Dayton Herald merged in 1949, she was named women's editor of the Journal Herald. In 1966, she became assistant to the editor of the newspaper, then Glenn Thompson,{{cite news |title=Journal Herald Editorial page |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/394228794 |accessdate=16 November 2018 |work=Journal Herald |date=December 31, 1966}} and editorship of the women's page was taken over by Virginia Hunt.{{cite news |last1=Simmons |first1=Carol |title=Former Journal Herald editor dies - Virginia Hunt oversaw change of 'women's pages' to broader 'Living section.' |url=https://infoweb-newsbank-com.research.cincinnatilibrary.org/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&t=pubname%3ADDNB%21Dayton%20Daily%20News%20%28OH%29&sort=YMD_date%3AD&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=20&val-base-0=marj%20heyduck&docref=news/1241A41B42B0FAE8 |accessdate=16 November 2018 |work=Dayton Daily News |date=October 23, 2008}}{{Cite book |last=Voss |first=Kimberly Wilmot |title=The food section: newspaper women and the culinary community |date=2014 |publisher=Rowman and Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-2720-0 |series=Studies in food and gastronomy |location=Lanham}}
Impact
Heyduck was "famous" for being "The Woman in the Hat."{{cite web |title=Al & Marge: Marj Heyduck, a journalist of many hats |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/408523639/?terms=marj%2Bheyduck |publisher=Dayton Daily News |accessdate=16 November 2018}} Her daily column dingbat featured a photograph of her in a different hat every day; every month she "hauled in 25 new hats to be photographed in" for the next month's columns, leaving the daily's photographers "fearing for their sanity," for a total of 2,776 hats and photographs over the course of her career.{{cite web |last1=David |first1=Mickey |title=Hats off to a beloved columnist |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/397686577/?terms=mickey%2Bdavis |publisher=Dayton Daily News |accessdate=16 November 2018}} The Dayton Daily News called her "legendary".{{cite news |last1=Dempsey |first1=Laura |title=Roz Young tells the unusual tale of British cats that were awarded medals in 'Two Marvelous Cats' |work=Dayton Daily News |date=December 6, 1996}}
She was "one of the early advocates" for redevelopment of the Dayton Arcade, writing in a 1967 column, "How can we get shoppers to the heart of Dayton every day? Restore the arcade to its rightful elegance." In 1980, the newly refurbished arcade named their new vendor pushcarts after her.{{cite news |title=Marj's Market |work=Dayton Daily News Advertising Supplement |date=Oct 8, 1980}}
Heyduck also had a daily radio show on WING from 1939 to 1941, and was a motivational speaker.{{cite news |last1=Huffman |first1=Dale |title=Readers share fond memories of "Third and Main" columnist |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/410904924 |accessdate=16 November 2018 |work=Dayton Daily News |date=May 23, 2006}}
Heyduck's obituary was read into the Congressional Record by Representative Charles Whalen.{{cite web |title=Extensions of remarks |url=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1969-pt19/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1969-pt19-7-3.pdf |publisher=US Government Publishing Office|accessdate=16 November 2018}}
Personal life
Awards and honors
Heyduck won over 75 journalism awards over her career,{{cite news |title=Marj Heyduck 1913–1969 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/394907878/?terms=marj%2Bheyduck |accessdate=27 November 2018 |date=September 17, 1969}} earning her a national reputation.{{cite web |title=Women's History Month: Marjorie Irene Heyduck |url=https://www.facebook.com/WoodlandCemeteryandArboretum/posts/womens-history-month-marjorie-irene-heyduck1913-1969marj-heyduck-was-the-daughte/1373018276092747/ |publisher=Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum |accessdate=11 November 2018}}
- National Headliners Award (1946){{cite web |last1=Stewart |first1=Annette |title=The Return of Marj Heyduck's Memory |url=http://www.darkejournal.com/2016/03/the-return-of-marj-heyducks-memory.html |publisher=Darke Journal |accessdate=27 November 2018}}
- United Press International Best Column in Ohio (1963)
- Penney-Missouri Award for Excellence, Women's Pages (1964){{cite news |title=Marj Heyduck Wins Journalism Award |work=Dayton Daily News |date=March 29, 1964}}
She regularly led discussions at seminars for women's page editors, appearing at Columbia University's American Press Institute 23 times between 1952 and 1968, and at state press associations in California, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania.
Bibliography
References
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Category:Journalists from Ohio
Category:20th-century American women journalists
Category:American women columnists
Category:20th-century American journalists
Category:20th-century American women writers
Category:Writers from Dayton, Ohio
Category:Ohio State University School of Communication alumni