She was the first female financial writer at the NYT and for many years used the byline "C.M. Reckert." Publisher Orvil Dryfoos, after meeting her one day in the composing room and discovering her gender, told her to use her full first name.
She started at the paper as a secretary for the financial desk and got into writing by preparing press releases for use by reporters who were out on assignment.
Reporters thanked her and gave her tips on writing.
 Reckert's run in the “ Financial Follies” started in 1975, the first year that the group allowed women members, and continued through the 2004 show. |
Helping her to win an editorial berth was a shortage of male reporters during World War II. She said financial editors called on her to do numerous chores including financial writing.
Randy Forsyth of Barron’s, a former NYFWA president and a nephew of Reckert, reported her death. She was in good health and mentally alert until recently, he said.
Her run in the “Follies” started in 1975, the first year that NYFWA allowed women members, and continued through the 2004 show.
Reckert, who retired in 1981, said she received “pretty nice treatment” from NYT editors but she also felt she had to work twice as hard as a man to prove herself.
Her major assignments included covering the feud that developed between Howard Hughes and TWA and Ford Motor Co.’s first earnings report after it went public.
Services will be listed on www.nyfwa.org/news.htm.
The 2010 “Follies” will be Nov. 19 at the Marriott Marquis.
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