The good, the bad and the ugly - our Someone 2 Know has documented most northern Nevada’s newsworthy moments for more than 50 years. Standing a mere 5'2" tall, Marilyn Newton did it all with three heavy cameras flung across her petite frame - everywhere she went.
The images she captured informed generations and helped us make sense of the world around us.
Now retired from the Reno Gazette-Journal - her passion for photography has not waned, and to this day, she's one of the best storytellers in Reno.
We caught up with her at home, where she shared just a fraction of the incredible images she’s snapped over the years.
From the demolition of the Mapes Hotel and Casino in 2000, to the crippling floods of 1997 - and in the hospital room with 17-year-old George Lamson in 1985 after the deadly Galaxy Airlines crash, "the only survivor,” recalls Newton, looking at the photo.
Newton has been running toward northern Nevada’s most nerve-wracking moments for most of her life.
"Yeah, it's been crazy!"
She's been shot at - and threatened!
There was this chilling encounter with mass murderer Priscilla Ford.
"Right after I shot this picture,” Newton indicates an image on her computer screen, “is when she stopped and she said 'oh, my you're a pretty one, I'll remember who you are’"
You may feel you know Newton after seeing the world through her lens for so many decades - 52 years working for northern Nevada’s main newspaper - but there's much more than meets the eye.
"I also shoot – weapons,” she grins, “In fact, for a number of years I was on the Carson City Sheriff's Pistol Team."
To this day, Newton is a deeply patriotic defender of our law enforcement officers and their plight. "Having my father as a cop definitely helped, because he used to come home with some interesting stories."
Newton wrote her first story for a newspaper when she was 12, her first news photo went to print when she was 13. Now 77, she says much has changed; “A lot of times we'd roll our own film, and then we'd shoot it and then we'd have to go in the dark room and develop the negatives."
In the early years she captured another iconic Marilyn (Monroe) on a movie set, rode horses with Clark Gable, and snapped pics of entertainers like the Beach Boys.
"I used to date Denny Wilson!"
But it's hard news that really has her heart. For decades Marilyn lived with a police scanner at home and in her car. Her little red Ford still proudly displays a custom "News" license plate.
"I like to get out and drive around and I'm always looking, see what I can see."
Over the years Newton has also written a book called Alkali Angels (https://www.amazon.com/Alkali-Angels-Recording-Historic-Graveyards/dp/1886312249), she was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize - and has been awarded and honored dozens of times.
"I just try to remember everyone that helped make me who I was.”
Officially retired, Newton still loves photographing Nevada, and has this advice for women entering the workforce - “Go for it. Whatever you wanna do, whether it be journalism or anything - just go for it!”
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This year, Marilyn Newton was inducted into the Nevada Women's Fund (https://www.nevadawomensfund.org/ ) Hall of Fame.
