LEILA FADEL, HOST:
We learned last night that our colleague, NPR correspondent Ina Jaffe, has died after living with breast cancer. She was 75 years old.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Her distinctive voice and her dedication never wavered...
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INA JAFFE: Ina Jaffe, NPR News.
MARTÍNEZ: ...As she reported on politics, criminal justice or advances in aging for a beat she created.
JAFFE: Betty Gibbons' (ph) goal is to improve her walking. At this point, just getting the mail has turned into an extreme sport because she has to walk down a long, steep driveway.
FADEL: Our former MORNING EDITION colleague Renee Montagne and Ina were friends for decades.
RENEE MONTAGNE: She was a tough journalist, in the classic way. She wanted you to tell her the truth, and she wanted to get it right.
MARTÍNEZ: Sonari Glinton sat near Ina for years. He recalls when she reported on a Veterans Affairs medical campus in Los Angeles and the scores of veterans nearby who are homeless.
SONARI GLINTON: They built housing, in part, because of the attention that got drawn to the Veterans Administration because of the work that Ina did over multiple years.
FADEL: Our Weekend Edition colleague Scott Simon recalls the night Harold Washington became Chicago's first Black mayor in 1983. Ina needed to reach the stage, but the room was packed.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Suddenly, somebody got the idea, looked at her and said, well, you know, we can lift you over there. And Ina was lifted off the ground by Harold Washington supporters, and she was passed, hand over hand by friendly hands, over this crowd to be able to get to where the podium was to be able to plug in her cable for the mic box. And it was just a rapturous moment.
FADEL: She sat a few desks away from me at our offices in Culver City. She was no nonsense, kind, and when you needed her, she had your back, and we had hers. Ina Jaffe, you will be missed.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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