David Reisenleiter glues wooden plugs into the bottom of the section of cob that will form the bowls of corn cob pipes at the Missouri Meerschaum Company in Washington, Missouri.

Mary Delach Leonard

Mary Delach Leonard is a veteran journalist who joined the St. Louis Beacon staff in April 2008 after a 17-year career at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where she was a reporter and an editor in the features section. Her work has been cited for awards by the Missouri Associated Press Managing Editors, the Missouri Press Association and the Illinois Press Association. In 2010, the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis honored her with a Spirit of Justice Award in recognition of her work on the housing crisis. Leonard began her newspaper career at the Belleville News-Democrat after earning a degree in mass communications from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, where she now serves as an adjunct faculty member. She is partial to pomeranians and Cardinals.

Aw, Shucks: Missouri’s One And Only Corn Cob Pipe Factory Turns 150

Mary Delach Leonard

Phil Morgan delights in showing visitors around the oldest corn cob pipe factory in the world — the 150-year-old Missouri Meerschaum Company in...
Museum at the Gateway Arch opens Tuesday with fresh exhibits, new entrance

Mary Delach Leonard

Thirteen-year-old Makenna Farnsworth had just been to the top of the Gateway Arch. “It’s really cool to be up there,” she said, looking back at the...
People Are Buying 'I Love Ferguson' Mugs And Donating To Help Damaged Businesses

Mary Delach Leonard

Pamela Peters, 66, was busy Tuesday afternoon helping customers at the “I Love Ferguson” store on South Florissant Road. The little storefront shop is...