Helen Thomas

"I come from a family of nine children. My parents were immigrants from Syria which became Lebanon after World War I. My dad came to the United States in the 1890's. We were all happy he didn't miss the boat. He was a teenager with only a few cents in his pockets.

Most of all my parents wanted their children to be educated. We went to college and were determined to become Americans-not hyphenated Arab-Americans although were proud to be a part of two cultures and felt bigger for that, loving the wisdom, music and food of our heritage and reveling in the rights under the U.S. Constitution.

I was born in Winchester, Kentucky and grew up in Detroit. I went to public schools and received a B.A. at Wayne State University in Detroit. I decided in high school when I was a sophomore and worked as a reporter on the school paper that I would be a journalist. I never deviated from that decision. I had a one-track mind to go into journalism. After college I moved to Washington and eventually got a job on the now defunct Washington Daily News. I moved on to United Press International, a once great wire service where I worked for 57 years as a reporter. I covered government departments and started covering President Kennedy at the White House in 1961.

I am currently a columnist for Hearst Newspapers. I have covered 10 presidents and history every day. I have 42 honorary degrees. I was President of the Women's National Press Club, the White House Correspondents Association and president oft the Gridiron Club.

I consider myself lucky to have chosen a profession that is an education every day."