Thomas Joseph (Tom) Reilly (1915-1976) was a political reporter for the Ledger-Star (Norfolk, Va.) and the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch for twenty-six years. He graduated in 1933 from Maury High School in Norfolk and became a part-time copy boy on the Ledger-Dispatch a year later. In 1935 he began to work full-time for the newspaper and the following year he was assigned to cover the police and fire departments. He also wrote on sports and he was subsequently assigned to courts. In 1939 he was assigned to cover the military and waterfront beat. Soon after reporting the departure of the first contingent of draftees sent to Army camps from the Norfolk Union Station, Reilly joined the military himself. His first assignment was to start a public information office with the Army Air Corps at Goodfellow Field, Texas. He received his commission in 1942 and was sent to Casablanca during the North African invasion to assist in building an airfield for the 52nd Fighter Group. He remained with this outfit for thirty-two months through the campaigns of North Africa, Sicily, Corsica, and Italy. Reilly left the service with the rank of captain. He returned to the Ledger-Dispatch as a general assignment reporter and was soon appointed assistant city editor, a position that he held for four years. He began to cover the General Assembly in 1948 on a part-time basis and two years later he covered the entire session. His reporting of the General Assembly and state and local politics over the next generation was distinguished for its accuracy, clarity, and balance. He expressed his philosophy of political reporting in the following words:"It takes time to get to know them [public figures] and they're understandably very sensitive. If they feel they're getting a fair shake, that's really all they expect and want . . . I don't concern myself if a story is going to be favorable or unfavorable to any particular candidate. It's going to be written on the basis of fact, not opinion . . . "

Note written by James F. Walsh