My favorite Norah Machia story involves her late, great appendix.
Having it removed could not have come at a worse time. In 2003 Samaritan Medical Center was in a first class war with Northern Radiology. And there was Norah — whose beat included our medical community — in a hospital room while all hell was breaking loose.
I assigned the story to another reporter. The next day the phone rang. It was Norah. She was now home recovering from her surgery. She told me that a radiologist had called her to go over her X-rays. So Norah did the logical thing: she interviewed the physician. She was calling, she told me, to provide quotes that would beef up the other reporter's story.
To this day, there are still doctors around here who wonder if Norah called in an elective appendectomy just so she could be our first embedded reporter at Samaritan.
Those who know Norah will tell you she wouldn't hurt a fly, let alone an appendix. But they will also tell you this: she is the nicest tough person they know.
Norah's last day at the Times was Friday. Over the past 21 years, Norah, who graduated from Syracuse University in 1985 with a B.A. degree in communications, was the public face of our reporting staff to every social service agency in the region. And every agency had a voice in our paper because of her.
"By Norah Machia" can be found 7,970 times in our online archives. She wrote 952 stories about Samaritan Medical Center. There was United Way (508), Northern New York Community Foundation (361), Hospice of Jefferson County (138), Children's Home (123), Children's Clinic (389), Jefferson Rehabilitation Center (266), Urban Mission (277) and DPAO (178).
Norah wrote nearly 200 stories on people receiving transplants. Untold thousands of dollars were raised for those suffering from rare illnesses after north country residents read her stories.
She was utterly relentless on her beat. She knew each agency's cycle of fundraising, and she could detect the subtleties and nuances in comments made by agency heads when change was in the air.
Norah was also relentless in her personal life. She is relentlessly a wife and mom to three kids. She exercises relentlessly. When students would shadow her for a day, she did THAT relentlessly, giving these future leaders a deep background look into their community.
I have never bought into the concept of the "Superwoman" who is all things to all people at home and at business, but when you consider Norah, well, there is really no other apt description.
Norah is leaving the paper to work with her husband, Tony, who owns Capital Construction and Development in Watertown. Staff writer Rebecca Madden takes over starting Monday. Rebecca has been sitting next to Norah in our newsroom for the past year, soaking up the manner in which Norah has done her job. The most important thing she has learned is that for Norah, journalism wasn't a job; it was about having a relationship with our community.
Norah asked if she can write an occasional feature story and coninue to provide her health column. We've worked it out so that her byline will be around from time to time as she helps us continue telling the story of the north country.
And while we hate not having her in our newsroom every day, we also know the Times and the north country were darn fortunate to have this guardian angel watching out for all of us during the past two decades.
Bob Gorman is the managing editor of the Times.
“Norah is a great reporter. Always accurate and well researched, her pieces are written with compassion and respect for the people involved.”
Alex Velto, Northern New York Community Foundation
“Norah has called me many times in the last four years. Each time it was both an honor and a moment of assurance. Because if Norah was calling, I must be doing something good for the community. And if Norah was calling, whatever was happening was going to be told in such a way that the community would be better. Whenever someone rails against the press or the media, I think of Norah Machia and know they are not seeing the whole story.”
The Rev. Fred Garry, First Presbyterian Church
“DPAO would not have enjoyed the success it has had over the years had it not been for Norah. She has effectively described the function of our agency in serving people with mental retardation and developmental disabilities who live at home. This has resulted in many people wanting to use our services to better the lives of their family members who are disabled.”
Joe Rich, Disabled Persons Action Organization
“Norah is more than an excellent reporter. Her dignity and style infused itself into her research and writing. Her stories taught and cajoled, and left many agency directors, community members and volunteers renewing their commitment to repair flaws, build up programs and see the best in others.”
Jayn Graves, United Way
“Norah has an uncanny sense for reporting on ‘people’ issues and writes a fair, honest and interesting story whether discussing uninsured children or the need for child care for working parents. She has an unsurpassed intellectual curiosity.”
Janice Charles, North Country Children’s Clinic
“I have always been impressed that a newspaper in a city the size of Watertown would go to the extraordinary lengths of having a reporter assigned to cover human services. Norah, while always seeking the facts of the story, always did such with an empathetic understanding of the issues surrounding the delivery of human services in the north country. On many occasions her story helped ameliorate the issues, while telling the story.”
Daniel Stern, Jefferson Rehabilitation Center
