Dorothy Stuck, a charter member of Arkansas Press Women, passed away this week at age 100.
From her life-long friend Nan Snow: It is with heavy heart that I pass the word on to you of the death of Dorothy Stuck on Thursday, July 1, 2021. Dorothy Suffered a fall in early June, and while she fought the good fight, she was unable to recover. At her request, there will be no memorial or burial service. But I know how much she valued the love and friendship you always extended to her. She lived a 100-year beautiful life.
Born at her grandparent’s home on Feb. 5, 1921 in Gravette, Dorothy lived a long extraordinary life.
“We’re blessed that Arkansas Press Women was part of Dorothy’s extraordinary life as she played an important role in the creation our organization and the decision to link us to National Federation of Press Women. It’s been an honor to meet Dorothy and hear her share about our history.”
APW President Kristin Netterstrom higgins
One of her happiest memories as an APW member, she had said to people over the years, was to see APW affiliate with NFPW. This fulfilled the dreams of her friend and former APW President Esther Bindursky, who had attended NFPW conferences and had urged the state to join as an affiliate.
Dorothy would fill in for Esther, helping run her newspaper, when she attended NFPW conferences and knew how much the national group meant to her.
Listen to Dorothy talk about her early APW days in this four-minute recording. She talks about how on her way home from an APW meeting, she heard about Roberta Fulbright’s death on the radio.
“One of my first official duties is going to be how to honor her and also convey to her family our sincere sympathy. But as a result of that, her son Bill and I became long friends, a friendship that continues today,” she said in that interview.
Dorothy and her husband, Howard, owned three eastern Arkansas newspapers, the Marked Tree Tribune, the Lepanto News Record, and the Truman Democrat. In 1950, Howard became ill with polio and Dorothy took on the editing role of the Marked Tree Tribune, where she worked for several decades.
Read the Encyclopedia of Arkansas entry on Dorothy Stuck
Her time with APW came to an end – or more like a long pause – when she moved to Texas in 1970. Dorothy took the job as regional director of the Office of Civil Rights for the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. During this time she implemented Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, which provided equal opportunities for women in education. She eventually came back to Arkansas and started with her friend Nan Snow a management and publications firm, Stuck & Snow Resultants.
The two friends authored a biography on Roberta Fulbright, one of the creators of Arkansas Press Women, in 1997. Fulbright was mother of Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright.
Dorothy once again joined Arkansas Press Women in 2017 when APW’s president Kristin Netterstrom Higgins realized a charter member of the organization was living in Little Rock. Stuck attended several APW meetings and was most recently honored at the 2021 National Federation of Press Women conference that took place virtually last month.
Read a 2017 APW Blog Post about Dorothy Stuck
APW Historian Wendy Plotkin spent time with Dorothy earlier this year to learn more about her and her role in APW. She compiled information about Dorothy to help with our celebration of her at the NFPW conference. Wendy put together several files about the history of APW including this one that has several photos of Dorothy.
Want to hear more about Dorothy’s life? The Pryor Center has a wonderful interview about her life, going all the way back to 1921.