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| Merigay Finnerty Sotomayor |
Memorial fund honors graduate, former Wildcat editor
A journalism memorial fund has been started in honor of Merigay (Finnerty) Sotomayor, who died July 18 in her home in Glendale, Calif., after a long illness. She was 64.
Merigay Finnerty’s first story for the Arizona Daily Wildcat got the royal treatment from Sherman R. Miller, then head of the Journalism Department and the newspaper‘s faculty advisor. He pinned the story – about a comical fraternity prank -- to the bulletin board with the note: “Delightful.”
Meri went on to become a staff editor on the Daily Wildcat during academic year 1965-66 and in the fall of 1966. She worked on the short-lived Tucson American newspaper and graduated in journalism in February 1967.
She returned to her hometown of Chicago, where she reported for the legendary City News Bureau, the training ground of many prominent journalists and the organization with these cautionary words: “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.” Her stylish opening on a weather story caught the attention of an editor at Chicago’s American newspaper, where she was hired as a feature writer.
In 1968, she married Frank O. Sotomayor, whom she had met when he was a journalism student and Daily Wildcat editor. Meri Sotomayor worked as a book editor in Tokyo, as an environmental researcher in Beverly Hills and as a writer for the L.A. Recreation and Parks Department. She continued to do free-lance writing and photography as she and her spouse raised a daughter, Teresa, and a son, Stephen. She collaborated with Frank on various projects, including the writing of “Para Los Niños – For the Children: Improving Education for Mexican Americans,” published by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.
In 1994, when UA President Manuel Pacheco threatened to eliminate the Journalism Department, Meri was instrumental behind the scenes in the formation of the Save Journalism Committee. She, Frank, journalism faculty and other committee members organized alumni in a successful effort that resulted in 1,100 letters, telegrams and e-mails being sent to Pacheco and the Arizona Board of Regents. The university president backed off after seeing the degree of support for the department.
To donate to the fund, please send a check with Merigay Sotomayor’s name in the memo line and made payable to “UA Foundation/Journalism” to:
UA School of Journalism
PO Box 210158B
Tucson, AZ 85721-0158
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