The Norman Transcript
March 02, 2008 12:23 am
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Transcript Staff Writer
For more than 60 years, journalist Edward F. Montgomery has chronicled the exploits of his fellow man.
And he's done it with a style and skill that few can claim.
The veteran Oklahoma journalist was honored Saturday night with a lifetime achievement award from the Oklahoma Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
A native of Missouri, Montgomery graduated from the University of Missouri in 1940 with a degree in journalism.
His first job was at the Shelby County Herald.
His career interrupted by World War II, Montgomery served as a bombardier and navigator. At the war's end, he traveled to Oklahoma working for newspapers in Bartlesville, Clinton and Norman.
From 1950 to 1981, he served on the staff of the Daily Oklahoman, the Oklahoma City Times and the Farmer Stockman. During his tenure at The Oklahoman, he covered the state legislature, serving as the head of the Oklahoman's Capitol bureau.
He was a longtime writer and actor for the Oklahoma City Gridiron Club's annual political satire, skewering local and national newsmakers.
Following his retirement from The Oklahoman, Ed worked as a columnist and editorial writer for The Norman Transcript and a columnist for the Oklahoma Press Association's Capitol News Bureau.
He also has written for the Saturday Evening Post and Argosy.
In 1986, Montgomery was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame.
In 1991, he received the OPA's Beachy Musselman Award for his contributions to the field of journalism.
Then, three years later in 1994, Levite of Apache published a collection of Montgomery's newspaper columns, "Sooner Said ... and Done."
Since that time, Montgomery has continued to write, contributing columns and reviews to The Transcript.
Today, at the age of 90, Montgomery continues to stay active in the world of journalism.
When he moved to Norman with his wife Connie in 1950, Ed said he did so because he wanted take a semester of professional writing at the University of Oklahoma.
Almost six decades later, the Montgomerys still call Norman their home. He enjoys golfing, bird hunting and the outdoors.
"I guess you could say it has been the longest semester ever," he said in 1994.
Ed's semester continues even today.
M. Scott Carter 366-3545 scarter@normantranscript.com
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