EDGEWATER, MD, U.S.A.
EDITOR, REPORTER, THE CAPITAL GAZETTE, ANNAPOLIS, MD
06/18/2018, ANNAPOLIS, MD, U.S.A.
Wendi Winters, a feature writer for The Capital and The Maryland Gazette died June 18, 2018 in the attack at the Annapolis newspapers’ office.
As gunshots rang out and glass shattered, staffers at The Capital Gazette newspaper took shelter under desks. Except Wendi Winters who stood up, grabbed a trash can and recycling bin, and charged the gunman. Her heroism cost her her life. Several staffers say she saved theirs. Wendi Winters, an editor and community reporter and a mother of four, was one of five employees slain in the attack.
Wendy Anne Winters was born in Coronado, CA, the daughter of Leigh Cosart Winters, and Dorothy Breuninger Grigsby. She attended Saint Rita’s School in Alexandria, VA. She graduated in 1971 from the old St. Mary’s Academy, a high school in Alexandria. She earned a bachelor of fine arts degree with a specialty in fashion design from Virginia Commonwealth University. She went to New York City on a fellowship at the Tobé-Coburn School for Fashion Careers and graduated with honors.
Winters wrote about local events, she interviewed teens who deserved recognition for good deeds. Just weeks after she took an active-shooter training class at her church, she made the ultimate sacrifice, explained her son, Phoenix Geimer. Wendi Winters wrote three weekly columns: Around Broadneck, Teen of the Week and Home of the Week.
“She was tall, elegant, self-possessed and dynamic,” explained Paul Donnelly, a friend. “She lived life to the fullest and was not one to sit around and watch television. Her writing was meticulous and reflected her personality. She was compassionate about the people she wrote about. It was never a chore for her to write The Teen of the Week column.”
“In an act of extraordinary courage, she gave her heart, and she gave her last breath, and she gave her final eight pints of blood to the defense of the free press and in defense of her family at the Capital. She died fighting for what she believed in. My mom is an American hero, and we all have so much to live up to,” her son added.