Clarke M. Thomas (1926-2009) was an American

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. He was born in

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, raised by Christian missionary parents in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

, and graduated with a degree in journalism from

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

. After a tour of duty in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

, he was as a reporter with ''

The Hutchinson News ''The Hutchinson News'' is a daily newspaper serving the city of Hutchinson, Kansas, United States. The publication was awarded the 1965 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service "for its courageous and constructive campaign, culminating in 1964, to br ...

'', the '' Lincoln Journal'', the ''

Wichita Eagle ''The Wichita Eagle'' is a daily newspaper published in Wichita, Kansas, United States. Originating in the early 1870s, shortly after the city's founding, it is owned by The McClatchy Company and is the largest newspaper in Wichita and the surr ...

'', and the ''

Daily Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th larg ...

''. He began a long and influential career at ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...

'' in 1971. He served a term as president of the National Conference of Editorial Writers.

Books

* ''They Came to Pittsburgh'', (Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1983). * ''Witness to the Fifties: The Pittsburgh Photographic Library, 1950-1953'', with Constance B. Schulz and Steven W. Plattner (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1999). * ''Front-Page Pittsburgh: Two Hundred Years of the Post-Gazette'', (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005). * ''A Patrician of Ideas: A Biography of A.W. Schmidt'', (Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, 2006). * ''This Far by Faith: The Community of Reconciliation Church History'', (Pittsburgh: Community of Reconciliation, 2008).

Sources

''Contemporary Authors Online''. The Gale Group, 2008.

External links

Post-Gazette obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Clarke M. 1929 births 2009 deaths American male journalists 20th-century American journalists University of Kansas alumni Writers from Pittsburgh Journalists from Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Post-Gazette people