Robin Herman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by TenTonParasol (talk | contribs) at 04:51, 7 February 2022 (clean up references, mostly archiving). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Robin Herman (November 24, 1951 – February 1, 2022) was an American writer and journalist. She was the first female sports journalist for The New York Times.

Herman had a successful and eclectic career, ranging from sports writing to assistant dean of communications for Harvard school of Public Health. She was a writer for The New York Times and The Washington Post and taught at Harvard, and published books on renewable energy, as well as the need for gender equality.

Early life

Herman was born in New York City on November 24, 1951.[1] She grew up in Port Washington, Long Island, New York.[2] She was among the first class of women enrolled in Princeton University in 1969. Herman graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1973, Magna Cum Laude in the first graduating class of women in Princeton history.[3][1] She was the first female staffer of The Daily Princetonian during her time at the university. She started out covering men's rugby and went on to become the paper’s first female sports editor and later a managing editor.[3]

Career

Herman became the first female sportswriter in the history of The New York Times upon graduation in 1973.[3]

1975 NHL All-Star Game

Robin Herman and Marcel St. Cyr became the first women allowed in a men's professional locker room on January 21, 1975, at the 1975 NHL All-Star Game in Montreal, Canada. While the Wales All-Star team easily beat the Campbell Conference All-Star Game 7–1,[4] Robin and Marcel instantly became the news, and television cameras focused on them instead. Despite Herman's efforts to sway the attention to the game, the story focused on the women in the locker room.[5][6]

“Breaking the locker room barrier” was seen as a symbolic assault on traditional male privilege and power. As the only female member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association at the time, Herman stared down intimidation and eventually pried open the locker rooms of all but four NHL teams before leaving sports for political coverage in 1979.[3]

Other journalism

In 1978, Herman left sports writing to become a political reporter for The New York Times. She was a political reporter for The Times for five years. In 1991 she wrote for The Washington Post and covered issues relating to health and medical fields.[7]

Harvard

In 1999, Herman was appointed as director of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health's office of communications. In 2006, she became the Assistant Dean of Communications and would hold this position for four years.[8] According to HSPH Dean Barry Bloom “Robin has provided an extraordinary level of service to the School community.”[8]

Art

After 13 years at Harvard, Herman established a career in fine arts, painting in watercolor, acrylic and pastel.[9][10]

Political views

Aside from writing for the Times as a political writer for five years, Herman wrote about women’s issues, including sports, on Twitter @girlinthelocker and a website www.girlinthelockerroom.com.[3] She stated that her idea for the blog started when George W. Bush ran for re-election in 2004. She said: "I felt that women's rights and integrity were being undermined by the Bush administration and that younger women did not realize that their standing in society was being eroded." She felt her experience as a female sports journalist well represented the cause for equal opportunity in employment and other rights for women.[3]

Personal life and death

Herman was married to Paul Horvitz with whom she had a daughter and a son. She died of ovarian cancer at her home in Waltham, Massachusetts on February 1, 2022, at the age of 70.[1]

Published works

She wrote a history of science book Fusion: The Search for Endless Energy. (Cambridge University Press, 1990).[7]

Awards and recognition

Herman is the 17th winner of the Mary Garber Pioneer award, Association of Women in Sports Media's highest honor. The award goes to a person showing distinguished work in the sports media industry and commitment to upholding and advancing the values of AWSM.[3]

She is mentioned in the 2013 documentary Let Them Wear Towels. The documentary details the struggles of those who first sought to enter the all-male locker rooms in various professional sports leagues. It is part of the series of documentaries produced by ESPN Films entitled Nine for IX.[1] The series focuses on women in sports and is told through the lens of female film makers.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Sandomir, Richard (February 3, 2022). "Robin Herman, Who Pried Open Doors in the N.H.L., Dies at 70". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  2. ^ Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages. Gale. 2007. p. 866. ISBN 978-0-7876-9394-7.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Lenzi, Rachel (December 26, 2014). "Robin Herman named 2015 Mary Garber Pioneer Award winner". Archived from the original on March 2, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  4. ^ "NHL All-Star Game Historical Summaries - 1975". National Hockey League. January 21, 1975. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  5. ^ Zinser, Lynn (January 23, 2010). "In 1975, 2 Women Crossed a Barrier". The New York Times. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
  6. ^ Zinser, Lynn (January 21, 2010). "The First Woman Through the Locker Room Door, 35 Years Ago". Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  7. ^ a b "Robin Herman's Biography". Women In Media & News. October 1, 2013. Archived from the original on September 23, 2011. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  8. ^ a b "Herman is assistant dean for communications at HSPH". February 2, 2006. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  9. ^ "Robin Herman Art". Facebook. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  10. ^ "ROBIN C. HERMAN". The Boston Globe. Retrieved February 3, 2022 – via Legacy.com.
  11. ^ Cingari, Jennifer (February 19, 2013). "ESPN Films and espnW Announce Nine for IX". Retrieved February 7, 2022.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robin_Herman&oldid=1070375548"