Article

Margaret Teresa Murray

Published Online September 8, 2008

Last Edited March 3, 2015

Margaret Teresa Murray, "Ma," née Lally, newspaper publisher (b at Windy Ridge, Kansas 3 Aug 1888; d at Lillooet, BC 25 Sept 1982). She came to Canada in 1912, worked for a Vancouver weekly, and then married the editor, George Matheson Murray.

Margaret Teresa Murray, "Ma," née Lally, newspaper publisher (b at Windy Ridge, Kansas 3 Aug 1888; d at Lillooet, BC 25 Sept 1982). She came to Canada in 1912, worked for a Vancouver weekly, and then married the editor, George Matheson Murray. They bought a small magazine, subsequently going from one publishing venture to another. In 1933 Mrs Murray started the Bridge River-Lillooet News; in 1944, the Alaska Highway News.

Famous for her pungent editorials on politics, economics and morals, she delighted and infuriated with her acid, earthy wit, most points emphasized with "and that's fur damshur." She declared, "The state of politics in Canada is as low as a snake's belly in Arkansas, but a snake there never go so low that he didn't have a pit to hiss in." Whether threatened with lawsuits or horsewhipping, she took it all in stride, replying, "It's a poor turkey who can't pack a few lice."