Trailblazing Journalist Who Chronicled the Trauma of Vietnam Dies at 91

Myra MacPherson, an award-winning journalist, whose 1984 book “Long Time Passing: Vietnam and the Haunted Generation” detailed the effects of the Vietnam War, died on Feb. 2 at age 91. 

MacPherson was a groundbreaking female reporter who covered a wide variety of beats, from features to sports to politics and the perils of war. MacPherson spent more than two decades with The Washington Post, her work illuminating the newspaper’s Style section. Along with her account of Vietnam, MacPherson authored several books, diving into a vast array of subjects.  

She died in hospice care due to congestive heart failure, according to her son Michael Siegel. 

Her idea to write about the Vietnam War in the early 1980s was not a popular choice, initially, with wounds still fresh from the long, bloody conflict. However, through hundreds of interviews, MacPherson exposed the aftermath of the war and its widespread effect on the American population. Shedding light on the mental toll of combat, MacPherson also highlighted a newly defined psychological condition – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. 

For perspectives, the journalist cast a wide net, documenting the stories of wives, nurses, mothers, and veterans who had mixed reactions to their time in Vietnam, from pride to shame to some who went AWOL. 

MacPherson also talked to mental health professionals and historians, spreading PTSD awareness. 

Author Donald Knox gave the book a stirring review in his New York Times piece “A War From All Sides.” 

“(The book) sings, soars, explodes with feeling,” Knox wrote, “(and) shines a powerful light on the differences that divide this generation.”

‘Women Don’t Cover That’

MacPherson had dreams of covering important news stories when she applied for a reporter position at the Detroit Free Press in 1956. But she was disappointed when the editor told her there were no positions available for the women’s section. 

“I said I wasn’t considering the women’s department,” she said, “and he looked at me as if I had said I just shot my mother or something. He said, ‘We have no women in the city room.’”

She eventually landed a job at the Free Press compiling TV listings. 

In the early 1960s, MacPherson paid her dues covering women’s topics and society for the Washington Star and the New York Times. Her work caught the keen editorial eye of legendary Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, who hired her in 1968 to write for Style, a new features section. Bradlee gave the young journalist free reign to cover issues with a magazine-style flair. 

In 1969, while covering the New York Mets, MacPherson wasn’t allowed the same access to the team as her male colleagues, describing it in a column as “being treated like a non-eunuch in a harem.”

Overcoming Discrimination in the Newsroom 

Born in Marquette, Michigan, on May 31, 1934, MacPherson was raised in Belleville, a small town between Ann Arbor and Detroit. 

Drawn to journalism at an early age, MacPherson served as lead editor for her high school newspaper then went onto Michigan State University where she worked as night city editor. She earned her degree in journalism in 1956. 

In 1960, after a few years at the Free Press, MacPherson moved to the Detroit News, where she was often the only female journalist covering major sports events, such as the Indianapolis 500. Denied entry to the press box and Gasoline Alley, MacPherson was forced to interview drivers through the chain-link fence hugging the racetrack. 

She was married to Washington sportswriter Morris Siegel until they divorced. In 1987, MacPherson married Democratic senator Jack Gordon, who was killed after being hit by a car in 2005. Leah Siegel, her daughter, died after a battle with breast cancer in 2010. MacPherson is survived by her son and three grandchildren. 

After leaving The Post in 1991, MacPherson wrote articles for Vanity Fair and penned books such as “She Came to Live Out Loud,” “All Governments Lie,” and “The Scarlet Sisters,” her final nonfiction book. 

In an interview, MacPherson reflected proudly on her journalism career, opening doors for female reporters in the ‘60s and ‘70s. 

“When I sought my first newspaper job, there were no women covering anything but society news, fashion,” she said. “I fought my way out of that niche and was one of the few women covering regular news.”