FORT WRIGHT — It seems almost everybody knew Mary Wood.

        The longtime Cincinnati Post TV critic died in her sleep Monday at a nursing home here.

        Since then, people have been swapping their favorite Mary Wood stories — at the water cooler, on the sidewalk, even on the radio.

        When Nick Clooney of WSAI-AM mentioned her on his show Tuesday morning, it turned into a Mary Wood tribute — with listeners calling in, one after another, to share a story.

        It wasn't just her high-profile job, it was the sheer force of her personality. Gregarious, witty and fearless, Mary Wood seems to have made an impression on nearly everyone she ever met.

        “Mary was a real character,” said her daughter, Sally Thomson of Covington. “She had wonderful wit and humor in her writing and had a large, loyal following.”

        Ms. Wood, who was 88, wrote the Post's TV column for 30 years, chronicling the development of such Cincinnati television luminaries as Ruth Lyons, Bob Braun, Al Schottelkotte, Paul Dixon and Mr. Clooney.

        She was friendly with Mrs. Lyons and appeared often on her show.

        “She was fascinated by the medium. She didn't understand how pictures flew through the air, but she loved it,” her daughter said.

        Ms. Wood's journalism career began in the 1930s, when she landed a job writing soap operas for WLW radio. Although she had no experience, she had a propensity and talent for writing — as well as the guts to go for it.

        “She was a single mom in the Depression, fighting her way up through the ranks (with) no credentials, no background, (but) obviously a lot of talent and a lot of courage,” said Mr. Clooney.

        She moved to the Post in 1943 and took the radio beat in 1946. That made her perfectly poised to begin covering the new medium — television — in 1948.

        While admitting that she “boxed me about the ears” in print on occasion, Mr. Clooney also said: “I don't think anybody ever wrote with her grace about the media. She did it with skill and great talent.”

        Born in New Orleans in 1914, Ms. Wood moved with her family to Greater Cincinnati when her father, Lee Hawes, became business editor of the Enquirer in the 1930s.

        She attended Holmes High School, but graduated from Millersburg (Ky.) Female College, then a high school. She also went to Morehead State University for a year.

        After retiring from the Post in 1978, Ms. Wood did some free-lance writing for Cincinnati Magazine and The Enquirer, and she published two books.

        She was also involved in civic affairs in Northern Kentucky.

        When Covington city leaders proposed tearing down her Riverside Drive neighborhood in the 1960s to make way for a theme park, Ms. Wood helped organize residents to have it registered as a historic area.

        In addition to her daughter, survivors include three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

        Services are 10 a.m. Friday at Trinity Episcopal Church, 326 Madison Ave., Covington. Burial is at Highland Cemetery in Fort Mitchell.

        Memorials: Ruth Lyons Children's Fund, P.O. Box 59, Cincinnati 45201, or Kenton County Animal Adoption Center, 1020 Mary Laidley Drive, Fort Mitchell, KY 41017.

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