Bob McCarty Writes

Helen Thomas, the ultra-liberal White House correspondent who sat in her front-row seat during presidential press conferences for four decades, appears to be on hard times after being laid off from her job at Hearst Newspapers.  At least, that’s my suspicion.

Why do I suspect this to be the case when no public announcement has been made?  Because I learned today that her Olivetti Lettera 32 portable manual typewriter — the same one she hauled around the world as she traveled with presidents around the world during the 1970s and ’80s — is being sold in an online auction that begins Sept. 25.

Click image to visit auction site.

The cover story for the auction, as contained in a news release issued by the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation, paints a picture that funds raised through the auction will be used to fund journalism scholarships. In reality, I suspect the woman described by the foundation folks as a “journalism legend” who “has covered eight United States Presidents” is a victim of the fact that Americans no longer trust most newspapers and do not consider them to be relevant sources of news.  In other words, people aren’t buying newspaper in numbers sufficient to allow Hearst to pay Helen’s inflated salary.

So sad.  Honestly, I hope the online auction — which, by the way, ends at midnight Sept. 25 — raises a lot of money.  After all, I would hate to see Helen forced to move into public housing in D.C.

To bid on the typewriter, go to http://www.sdxdc.org.