Polly Lane, who covered commercial real estate and the aerospace industry for the Seattle Times, died Tuesday at the age of 70 after suffering from cancer, according to a story in the Times. She had retired from the paper in 2000.
Reporter Marsha King wrote, “As the story goes, Boeing executives got so accustomed to 5 a.m. calls at home from reporter Polly Lane chasing down a lead, they’d automatically pick up the phone with ‘Hello, Polly.’
“‘I don’t think the clock meant anything to Polly,’ said Harold Carr, retired Boeing spokesman. ‘If she saw something early in the morning or something was on her mind, she’d call.'”
Later, King added, “Some of those she covered or worked with over the years used similar words to describe her: Fair. Accurate. Even-tempered. Professional.
“‘I don’t think Polly ever went for sensationalism to enhance a negative story just for the publicity it brought,’ said Frank Shrontz, retired president, chief executive officer and board chairman of Boeing.
“Mrs. Lane also served as a spirited role model.
“‘I would describe her as a classic deadline reporter who had great sources … and could turn a complicated aerospace story on a dime,’ said Stanley Holmes, national correspondent for BusinessWeek magazine who covered aerospace with Mrs. Lane at The Times.”
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