Helen Thomas was in the front row of presidential news conferences for nearly 40 years working for the United Press International. “The First Lady of the Press” will leave the Beltway for the Midwest and a visit to IU South Bend on Monday, May 23.

Thomas is the second speaker in the Teachers Credit Union series. The event will include the credit union’s 74th annual meeting beginning at 6:45 p.m. in main auditorium of Northside Hall. She will begin her talk after the meeting followed by a question and answer period.

Tickets are $1 for credit union members and $5 for non-members. Tickets will be available at TCU offices. The credit union also is providing free tickets to schools and IU South Bend classes.

For tickets for IU South Bend faculty, staff and students, contact Sylvia Bubick at (574) 520-4896.

Thomas was born in Winchester, Ky., and raised in Detroit. She graduated from Wayne State University and moved to Washington to be a copy clerk at the now-defunct Washington Daily News. She joined UPI in 1943 to write radio copy and later to cover the federal government.

In 1960 she began to cover then President-elect John F. Kennedy and she eventually followed him to the White House. She became familiar to the public as the person who closed the presidential press conferences with, “Thank you, Mr. President.”

She traveled with presidents, reported on summits, Watergate and every event in the White House. Thomas resigned from UPI in 2000 and currently works as a White House correspondent and syndicated columnist for King Features, a unit of the Hearst Newspapers.

In 2003, President George W. Bush halted the tradition of allowing Thomas to end the news conferences. She also was moved from the first chair of the first row to the back row. She is seldom called upon in press conferences.

Thomas wrote three books, including her latest “Thanks for the Memories Mr. President: Wit and Wisdom From the Front Row at the White House.”

For further information contact the credit union at (574) 284-6495.