Veteran Washington Post Journalist Deborah Howell expires

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Longtime journalist Deborah Howell dies

WASHINGTON — Deborah Howell, a longtime journalist and former ombudsman for The Washington Post, has died. She was 68.

Her stepson Nick Coleman said Friday that Howell suffered fatal injuries when she was struck by a car while vacationing in New Zealand. Coleman spoke by phone from Minnesota.

Howell was an editor for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Minneapolis Star and also served as Washington bureau chief for Newhouse Newspapers. She served as the Post’s ombudsman from 2005-2008.

She was vacationing with her husband, former University of Minnesota president C. Peter McGrath. She was also married to Coleman’s father, former Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Nick Coleman.

Howell described herself as “feisty and aggressive” in a Post article around the she was hired there.