Nona Poston wasn’t about to let age stand in the way of achieving one of her life goals. At 66, more than 40 years older than most of her classmates, she earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from UTA in 1979.

“She always wanted a college education,” said her brother, Edwin Streit. “She started late in life and enjoyed it there at UT Arlington very much.”

So much that she bequeathed $20,000 and proceeds from the sale of two homes to the University upon her death in 2003. The funds created the Murray C. and Nona Poston Journalism Scholarship Fund for journalism majors.

For 20 years before her husband Murray’s death in 1993, the Postons criss-crossed the globe, gathering information for news organizations and writing stories for the travel industry. In 1978, Nona interviewed Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in Cairo. The two 45-minute tapes from that meeting are now housed in UTA’s Department of Communication.

Among the other dignitaries she interviewed were Princess Grace of Monaco and President Lacas of Panama. She gained access to such notables using press credentials obtained as an international correspondent for the Itasca Item. But Nona’s exchanges weren’t limited to high-ranking officials.

“There was not a press club anywhere she went that she didn’t visit and gab with whatever locals she encountered,” said retired UTA communication Professor Bill Stone. “It was from these conversations that her best stories were born.”

The Postons were members of the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Press Club of Washington, D.C. A 60-year resident of Fort Worth, Nona was a Rotarian and a member of the Woman’s Club of Fort Worth. She valued education and wanted the next generation of journalists to have even greater opportunities than she had.

“Nobody had a finer sister than I did,” said Streit, who lives in Overland Park, Kan. “She treated everybody with courtesy and respect. Anybody who knew her really liked her. I always felt like she was my angel.”

Adventurous was another fitting description. “My sister got to ride on the Concord several times,” Streit recalled. “She even took me on it one time. It was a bigger thrill than I can describe.”

With the help of Nona and Murray Poston, UTA journalism graduates may one day experience similar thrills.