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Remembering Margaret Thatcher’s Missouri Visit

Marion S. Trikosko via Wikimedia Commons

In 1996, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, the same place where almost 50 years earlier, Winston Churchill delivered his famous “Iron Curtain” speech.  During her visit, Thatcher gave a speech that still has relevance today, especially in light of the continuing threat of nuclear weapons by North Korea.

Shawn Poore, now Director of Development at the University of Missouri College of Engineering, was a senior at Westminster College in 1996 and served as Thatcher’s guide on her tour of the campus, including the National Churchill Museum.  Fulton Police Lieutenant Lyla Robbins provided security for the former Prime Minister during her stay. 

On the day that Thatcher was laid to rest, “St. Louis on the Air” host Don Marsh introduced a segment of her Westminster speech and then spoke with Poore and Robbins about their remembrances of her visit.

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Mary Edwards came to St. Louis Public Radio in 1974, just after finishing her Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She has served the station in a number of capacities over the years. From 1988-2014 she also taught an undergraduate class in radio production at Webster University. Mary was inducted into the St. Louis Media History Foundation Media Hall of Fame in April, 2017 and received the Gateway Media Literacy Partners' Charles Klotzer Media Literacy Award in 2012. Mary retired from St. Louis Public Radio in 2018, but still serves the station as a St. Louis Symphony Producer.
Alex is the executive producer of "St. Louis on the Air" at St. Louis Public Radio.
Don Marsh served as host of St. Louis Public Radio’s “St. Louis on the Air" from 2005 to 2019, bringing discussions of significant topics to listeners' ears at noon Monday through Friday. Don has been an active journalist for 58 years in print, radio and television. He has won 12 Regional Emmy Awards for writing, reporting, and producing. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, was inducted into the St. Louis Media Hall of Fame in 2013, and named “Media Person of the Year” by the St. Louis Press Club in 2015. He has published three books: his most recent, “Coming of Age, Liver Spots and All: A Humorous Look at the Wonders of Getting Old,” “Flash Frames: Journey of a Journeyman Journalist” and “How to be Rude (Politely).” He holds an honorary Doctor of Arts and Letters degree from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
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