Regarding the March 23 article “Maine reporter May Craig was a pioneer for women covering Washington politics,” I applaud the paper and reporter Ray Routhier on this wonderful tribute to this formidable woman.

I first encountered Ms. Craig in a transcript of a 1951 edition of “Meet the Press,” when a young congressman from Massachusetts named Kennedy was being grilled by her. I was dumbfounded that someone from the Portland paper would be on this panel. But then I found her again and again on that television news program, and also in presidential press conferences while doing research for a course on JFK. The latter always seemed well prepared for his conferences. But so did she.

Thank you for introducing a new generation of Mainers to this pioneering journalist. Thank you also for ending the article by quoting her seminal column from 1964 called “Decline of the United States — and Fall.” What would she write about the state of the nation today?

Arthur Benedict
Peaks Island