Catching up with . . . Kathy Lally

In the early 1970s, the Kathy Lilly byline often appeared on Page A1 of the Beacon Journal. Kathy had a knack for getting the families of American military people killed in Vietnam to pour their hearts out to her during their times of sorrow. It also helped "put a face on" the Vietnam War, making it personal instead of just statistics and ideology. She left the Beacon about 1975, near the time that U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war ended. She reverted to using her maiden name of Kathy Lally and has an impressive career in journalism.

At my request, Kathy provided an account of her life and career since she left the BJ. Here it is:

I have been at The Washington Post for the last four and a half years. I'm deputy business editor.

I left the BJ around 1975 and went to the Baltimore Sun, where I edited a weekly news section, then was weekend metro editor and then features editor. I spent eight years as education reporter, and I was Moscow correspondent from 1991 to 1995 and 1997 to 2001, working with my husband, Will Englund. He won a Pulitzer in 1998 for investigative reporting for a series on shipbreaking. (EDITOR'S NOTE: The Baltimore Sun series by Larry Cohn and Will about how the Navy disposed of unneeded ships caused the Navy to change the way it handles the shipbreaking.)

I was deputy foreign editor of The Sun before coming to The Post.

Will and I have two daughters: Kate, who is a photo editor for Getty Images in New York and was married in October 2008, and Molly, who graduated from Emerson in theater and is saving money to go to grad school in playwrighting.

Will left The Sun in January 2008 and is covering the White House for the National Journal, and we're still living in Baltimore and commuting to Washington.

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I emailed Kathy again, asking for identifications on the photo that Kathy, at my request, provided. I ended the message with:

I guess I could have just scribbled:

"See me."

That would have reminded us both of the wonderful, frenetic days with Pat Englehart. I still miss him. And Fran Murphey.

Kathy’s reply:

Oh, I miss them too. They were wonderful -- and memorable -- people.

Both Pat and Fran, of course, are deceased. And legends among BJ oldtimers.

Click on the headline to see a photo of Kathy and Will along with daughters Molly and Kate at the October 2008 wedding of Kate.