On this first day of the legislative session, I would like to take a moment of personal privilege. Today, marks the end of an era, a passing of time few will probably notice but many should. It’s the first day Marie Price, the dean of the capitol press corps won’t be there to cover the chaos. She retired Friday.
I’ve never said the things to her that I will say here today, but I realized a few weeks ago when she told me about her retirement that they were long overdue. In 2003, I showed up at the capitol as a very green reporter, 22 years old, faking it until I made it. I didn’t know anyone or about anything. So, I watched. I watched the professionals who covered the capitol for years, and they were excellent teachers. John Greiner, Paul English, Tim Granahan, Ron Jenkins, Jim Campbell, Frosty Troy and others. And then there was Marie. A woman in a man’s world. Never flashy and always quiet, I watched her work. She is a journalist, but have no doubt, Marie Price has dedicated her life to public service as much as anyone in the capitol.
Her retirement has caused me to reflect on the changing nature of journalism as it relates to our government. Without all those people I mentioned before, people like Marie, who have served as our watchdogs, some profound experience is missing today from the capitol. It takes years to understand the political process in the way they have, and that’s the kind of knowledge that’s necessary to figure out a late night political trick that will sneak language into a bill that might affect all of us. It takes that kind of experience to know that in the legislature, there really is nothing new under the sun.
Today’s capitol press corps is still carrying the torch. Even though it’s smaller than it’s ever been, they’re still watching out for your interests and mine, albeit without the institutional knowledge I had the privilege of apprenticing under.
Amid all the pomp and circumstance of the first day of session, a little bit of really important sunshine is missing. You probably won’t notice, but you should. Thank you, Marie, for your dedicated service.
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Marie Price started covering the State Capitol in 1980 and has written about state government and the law for more than 30 years.
Her career has included service with the Oklahoma Legislative Reporter, predecessor to the Journal Record Legislative Report, The Journal Record and The Tulsa World.
Marie received a juris doctorate from Oklahoma City University in 1991, also earning a bachelor of arts degree in mass communications from OCU in 1979, graduating magna cum laude. While at OCU, she rose to the position of managing editor of The Campus, OCU’s student newspaper. She was honored by her journalism peers in 1998 when she was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame.
