GRAND RAPIDS, Ohio — Longtime Toledo newspaper columnist Mary Alice Powell celebrated her 95th birthday on Sunday, as family and friends gathered in the backyard of her green bungalow across the Maumee River in Grand Rapids.
"Writing is what I love to do, ya know, I'm a journalist. But I think the love of people has a lot to do with it. I think enjoying people in all walks of life," said Powell on her joy in life.
Powell started her career in journalism. when she was just 18-years-old, just about a year after the end of World War II.
Powell was working in a factory at the time when her high school English teacher encouraged her to apply for a job as a cub reporter for the hometown newspaper in Adrian, Michigan.
In 1954, she started working at The Blade where she stayed until 1995 when she retired, but not before seeing the world.
Incredibly, Powell was able to have a decades long career as a writer without ever having graduated from college.
She continues to write to this day and still occasionally contributes columns to her old newspaper.
Mrs. Powell is best known for her restaurant reviews and food tips and tricks. So it was no surprise her birthday party was beautifully catered while a small jazz ensemble played in the background.
As friends and family gathered to celebrate Mrs. Powell, they shared some of their favorite stories about her.
Her colleagues say Powell was a master at getting people to tell their own stories, something she was able to use in her columns.
"Wherever she goes, we would kind of meet somebody and not think anything about it. She'll talk to somebody and pull something out of them, and say 'oh that's a good story', and then next thing you know, it'll be in the paper," said Barbara Hendel, the Society Editor, at The Blade.
One guest at the party and a person Mrs. Powell wrote about - over 40 years ago - was Father Say. He himself turned 90 just last week.
"Longevity is the focus here today," Father Say said. "Longevity at its finest."
Mrs. Powell has a special place in her heart for her readers, who continue to read her column year after year.
"Oh, I love them. It just almost brings tears, because I write for them."
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