Mark My Words: The Memoirs of a Very Political Reporter

Julie Rekai Rickerd is a Toronto broadcaster and public relations
consultant.

Shortly before her untimely death in December 1992, Marjorie Nichols,
knowing her life would soon be over, asked award-winning journalist Jane
O’Hara, sports editor of the Ottawa Sun, to help her write her
memoirs. This book is the poignant result of this collaboration.

Nichols was one of the finest political commentators in Canada. Born
and raised in Red Deer, Alberta, she was a highly intelligent and
precocious child whose remarkable energy and stubbornness would later
serve her well in the rough-and-tumble arena of political journalism.

Following her training at the University of Montana, she spent the rest
of her life as either a key member or bureau chief of press galleries in
Victoria, Ottawa, and Washington. She played as hard as she worked. Her
round-the-clock schedule was fueled by heavy drinking and partying. She
was of the old school, where information was gathered by word-of-mouth
through friendships with politicians and media colleagues, not through
reams of news releases. Mutual respect (if not affection) existed among
the writers and their subjects, and criticism and disagreement, if
substantiated and factual, were accepted and understood aspects of the
“game.” Nichols made as many foes as friends, but only through her
strong, public opinions, never through malice or manipulation.

Above all else, Nichols was a fighter. She fought for stories, fought
for the truth, and fought to find and keep her place in the
male-dominated world of reportage. She also fought her personal demons:
alcohol, loneliness, and, finally, cancer. Her lifelong friends included
Jack Webster, Allan Fotheringham, Pamela Wallin, Senators Pat Carney and
Joyce Fairbairn, Grace McCarthy, Svend Robinson, and Iona Campagnolo.
She could fight with them tooth and nail, but they shared mutual loyalty
and caring. People were drawn to her magnetism and her generosity, which
knew neither personal nor professional bounds.

This is a valuable overview of political journalism as practiced by one
of its finest professionals. As well, the book clearly (and sadly)
demonstrates the great personal sacrifices such professionalism demands.
It is a wonderful tribute to a great wordsmith and an excellent guide
for would-be newshounds.