Mimi Burkhardt |
Mary Dolbier Burkhardt, known universally as Mimi, spent 24 years editing stories at The Providence Journal. She had a reputation as a meticulous and incisive editor, a mentor who encouraged reporters to approach difficult stories with the same compassion and care that she showed to those around her.
She championed her reporters and helped them weave humanity into their stories. Her love of language and grammar and passion for accuracy drove her to find even the smallest flaws. Yet she edited with a velvet hand and always with sensitive treatment of story subjects in mind.
She became affiliated with the Dart Society as the editor who was the driving force behind “Rape in a Small Town,” a story by Journal reporter Kate Bramson that won the Dart Award in spring 2004. The article chronicled the struggles of a teenaged girl who was raped by a popular classmate. Mimi listened as Kate shared the details of the girl’s ordeal, carefully stored away what she’d heard, and then made sure that truth found its way into a powerful narrative.
The Mimi Award embraces editors who, like its namesake, work closely with reporters and recognize the unique challenges of accurately and compassionately telling the stories of people who have experienced pain and trauma. She approached reporters and sources as human beings first, and she cared about them and the effect journalism had on their lives.
Mimi died unexpectedly in December 2004. She was 52. The idea for The Mimi Award was launched in November 2005 during the Dart Center’s Ochberg Fellowship program in Toronto where Kate Bramson was a Fellow.
Mimi is survived by her husband, Andrew B. Burkhardt, a retired city editor at The Providence Journal; their children, Andrew Clark Burkhardt and Mary C. “Molly” Burkhardt; and a son, Eric Lavendier, from a previous marriage.
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