Charismatic force in community journalism dies at 95
Marianne Scott, a charismatic and creative force in the community journalism of the Northwest suburbs from the 1950s through the early '80s, died peacefully at her Palatine home Sunday at the age of 95.
A graduate of the University of Illinois, Scott led Paddock Publications to numerous first-place awards for "Best Women's Pages" in the then-annual JCPenney-University of Missouri national awards, according to friends and former co-workers Genie Campbell and Mary B. Good.
Scott's strong contributions to the company as the Daily Herald evolved from a weekly to a daily publication were remembered by those in a position to know.
"She was an outstanding journalist and advocate for women's issues, at a time when newspapers had special women's sections," said Douglas K. Ray, chairman, publisher and CEO of Paddock Publications Inc.
"Refined and proper, she exuded professionalism in a newsroom, which was often chaotic and a whirlwind of activity in quest of news."
Daniel E. Baumann, chairman emeritus of Paddock Publications, recalled Scott's work as the women's editor for nearly 20 years beginning in the 1950s.
"Marianne Scott brought a high level of professionalism to the traditional 'society' section of the weekly Herald newspapers," he said, "building relationships with the leaders of women's organizations, holding seminars and fashion shows, covering their club news, writing up weddings and engagement stories and scouring the suburbs for human interest items."
Robert Y. Paddock Jr., vice chairman and executive vice president of Paddock Publications, remembered Scott as "a special part of our office family life."
"The team of which she was a member was a family of its own, and she was viewed as the classy, fun 'relative,'" Paddock said. "On occasion at Christmastime, she put up her hair and wore lights not only there but also on her dress."
Scott and Doris McClellan first teamed up as journalism majors at the University of Illinois and then again at the Daily Herald. Every year they hosted a seminar for 500 local women charged with publicizing their club activities, teaching them how to write and submit their news.
The women were treated to fashion shows featuring garments made from sections of the newspaper, to gifts and even to singing, all organized by McClellan and Scott.
"Both were real cut-ups," McClellan's daughter Linda Wilson said when McClellan died in 2007. "But they were effective in getting people to participate in their local newspaper."
The pair knew that to help the newspaper be necessary to residents' lives, readers needed to be involved.
"We were the faces of the newspaper," Scott told the Daily Herald in 2007. "Everyone knew us.
"We had to rewrite everything because in those days, it all came in handwritten. We heard from 92 clubs a week. I know because one time I counted all of them."
Ray said Scott was an important figure in the growth and evolution of the newspaper.
"The Herald was her home away from home, as she represented our company with style and grace," he added.
Scott moved with the times, Baumann added.
"When the section was expanded into a broader feature section under the direction of Suburban Living Editor Pat Adam, Marianne continued to add her unique value," he said. "She was a co-worker, friend and a thoughtful neighbor in the Plum Grove Estates community."
No services are planned. Scott's ashes will be buried with her Navy veteran husband, Jack, who died in 1994, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.