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McKnight remembered for impact on readers

Dorothy ‘Dot’ (Ross) McKnight

ESCANABA — All of Delta County lost a dear friend last week with the passing of former Daily Press Lifestyle Editor Dorothy McKnight. Though her passing has saddened many, the skilled journalist, loving wife and mother, and pillar of the community lives on through the lives she touched. It seems almost as if everyone in Delta County knew Dorothy, but even those who did not know her personally probably witnessed her work in one way or another.

Originally from New York City, Dorothy came to the Upper Peninsula with her husband, Jim, and wove herself into the fabric of U.P. life. In 1985, she joined the staff of the Delta Reporter and began her career in journalism. A recent graduate, she was hesitant to take the job at first, but with the support of her husband, she took the plunge.

“When she spoke with one of her professors … she told her she’d be in over her head, but my dad told her to go for it, because, ‘what have you got to lose?'” said Dorothy’s daughter Elaine McKnight.

While at the Reporter, Dorothy covered a wide range of topics and developed her own voice. She started the “Kiddie Klicks” section, where multiple children were asked a single question and their answers printed. The section is still a staple of the Daily Press, but is now known as “Kid Speak.”

Dorothy also covered news items in the city of Gladstone for the Reporter. It was through that work she met Daily Press Editor Brian Rowell, who at the time, was also a beat reporter. The two journalists would attend the same Gladstone City Commission meetings for their respective papers and often chatted about the meetings.

“Years later, when the Delta Reporter became no more, she came here and joined us at the Daily Press, and that’s when I really got to know Dorothy,” said Rowell.

Dorothy left not long after the Daily Press and the Delta Reporter merged, but she returned to serve as the lifestyles editor four years later in 1997. Filling the pages of the lifestyles section with community news and heartfelt features let her unique ability to connect with people shine through.

“Dorothy had a wonderful gift, she was able to bring any person that she wrote about to life,” said Rowell. “When you read a story that Dorothy McKnight did, you felt that … the person that was described in those words came to life. You genuinely cared about that person. She just had a phenomenal talent.”

That talent did not go unnoticed. During her career, Dorothy won multiple awards from the Michigan Press Association, Associated Press, and the ecumenically-sponsored Good News Awards.

Dorothy was particularly known for her collection of Good News Awards, which showcased excellence in journalism that affirmed the dignity of people and uplifted the human spirit in the U.P. When asked how many awards she had won through the annual competition, she would reply that she received an award for every year he contest was held, except for one. The next year she received two awards.

“Whenever I would read one of her stories, I would go from start to finish and never get bored. Dorothy and I worked a long time together; she’s one of the best journalist I’ve ever known,” said Rowell.

Raised in a military family and married to a soldier herself, Dorothy was no stranger to military life and veterans issues. She loved interviewing veterans and writing their stories, whether it was a small piece for a local veteran group or as part of a larger feature, like when she accompanied local veterans on the U.P. Honor Flight to Washington D.C. to see the memorials erected in their honor.

“She said she got teary-eyed more than once,” said her son Jerry McKnight, recalling his mother’s reaction to the Honor Flight trip.

Dorothy also loved children, and had a knack for capturing their unique worldview. Her “How to cook a turkey” articles, where school children gave their ideas on how to prepare a bird for Thanksgiving, were an annual favorite.

“The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, every issue had that story in it, and people never got tired of it. That’s one of the small legacies she’ll leave behind,” said Rowell.

Her love of children extended far outside the newsroom. In addition to working with the children in her church, New Horizons Ministry, Dorothy was an active volunteer with the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) Reading Buddies program. In her later years at the Daily Press, she adjusted her scheduled to accommodate the weekly visits to read to school children.

“She talked me into going, so then I started going to Reading Buddies,” said her husband Jim McKnight, who fondly remembered participating in the program with Dorothy.

One of Dorothy’s dreams was to write children’s books. With a great-grandchild on the way, Dorothy decided last year it was time to write one, but shortly after setting her mind to the project she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Knowing that she had little time left to complete the task, and writing becoming harder as the days went on, she worked with a hospice volunteer named Judy to get her story on paper.

The Saturday before Dorothy died, Judy came to see her with a completed version of the story. Dorothy was elated, and gushed over the story.

“With the help of another person from hospice, they’re working on illustrations and we’re going to finish it off for her, but she was able to hear the story as it’s going to be written,” said Elaine.

While Dorothy’s work outside journalism was rewarding and meaningful in its own right, Dorothy never liked to be far from the newsroom. She retired in 2007, but rejoined the Press in 2010. Five years later, she retired a second time, but was not opposed to writing a story for the paper if the mood struck her. Her last piece for the paper, a feature on the Marie Mayville who personalizes fudge Easter Eggs every spring, ran on April 15 of this year.

“She asked me one time about two months ago, ‘I’m thinking about going back to the Press,’ I said, ‘You are?’ She said, ‘Yeah,'” Jim reminisced.

“She wanted to come back,” he added.

Even though Dorothy never had the opportunity to return to the Daily Press, her memory lives on through her stories and the influence she had on the paper’s staff.

“I think the community is going to miss Dorothy. She was such a gift, not just to the newspaper and our readers but the community as a whole,” said Rowell.

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