The Maine Press Association will honor three distinguished Maine journalists when Andy Molloy, Mike Lowe and Tux Turkel are inducted into the Maine Press Association Hall of Fame on Oct. 17 at the DoubleTree Hotel in South Portland.
The three journalists represent different facets of the profession — photojournalism, sports reporting and enterprise journalism — but share a commitment to accuracy, curiosity, community and the belief that strong local journalism makes Maine a better-informed place.
Andy Molloy
Andy Molloy, an award-winning photojournalist who spent 30 years at the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, was known for his extraordinary news instincts, deep community connections and commitment to journalism.
Molloy died this past spring at age 57 after a decade-long battle with a rare form of cancer. During his career, he became much more than a photographer. He was a highly sourced, multi-talented journalist who routinely broke news and was often arriving at breaking-news scenes alongside — or even ahead of — law enforcement, firefighters and other first responders.
His award-winning photographs documented both major breaking news events and the everyday life of rural central Maine. Among his notable accomplishments was breaking the story of the apprehension of the man known as the “North Pond Hermit,” who had committed hundreds of burglaries during 27 years living in the Maine woods. Molloy was the first journalist to learn of the apprehension and subsequently negotiated reporting access for the Kennebec Journal.
Colleagues also remember Molloy for the extraordinary care he showed toward other journalists and members of his community. He mentored reporters, helped colleagues find housing and medical care when they moved to the Augusta area, and opened his own homes to people going through difficult circumstances.
Mike Lowe
Mike Lowe’s 40-year career at the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram established him as one of Maine’s most accomplished and respected sports journalists. He worked at the newspapers from 1982 until his retirement in 2022, covering an extraordinary range of sports and events while building lasting relationships throughout the state.
Lowe covered seven Super Bowls, six years on the Portland Pirates beat — including the team’s Calder Cup championship — the Little League World Series and the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He also covered countless high school championship games and became a premier reporter of Maine high school sports.
His work extended well beyond game coverage. Lowe produced enterprise and investigative stories on subjects including concussions, the financial cost of youth sports, depression among athletes and the changing racial identity of Maine sports. During the COVID-19 shutdown, when sporting events disappeared, he turned his attention to stories about ordinary Mainers doing good deeds for their neighbors.
Lowe’s peers recognized his work repeatedly. He was named Maine Sports Writer of the Year four times by the National Sports Media Association, won three Maine Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Media Awards and received honors from the Maine Field Hockey Coaches Association, the Maine Basketball Coaches Association, the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Maine Press Association.
Tux Turkel
Tux Turkel, who retired from the Portland Press Herald in 2023 after more than four decades covering energy, environmental and utility issues, has built a career around making complicated subjects understandable to Maine readers.
Turkel’s reporting has covered some of the most consequential energy issues in the state, including the closure of the Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, the controversy surrounding radioactive waste storage, offshore wind development, the Central Maine Power and Hydro-Québec transmission corridor, and the continuing questions surrounding Maine’s high electricity costs.
His approach has been defined by persistence and preparation. Rather than settling for official explanations or easy answers, Turkel follows the money, digs through regulatory filings and public records, and seeks out independent experts who can provide context and challenge conventional explanations. His decades on the same beat gave him a depth of knowledge that allowed him to hold regulators, utilities and other powerful institutions accountable.
Just as importantly, Turkel has demonstrated an unusual ability to translate technical information, statistics and bureaucratic language into clear, accessible stories. A former colleague described his work as helping countless Mainers understand issues that directly affect their daily lives and their future.
That work has continued since his retirement. Turkel remains active as a freelance journalist, reporting on Maine’s energy and environmental challenges for outlets including The Maine Monitor. His more recent work has examined electricity prices, clean-energy goals, offshore wind, coastal adaptation and the potential implications of lithium mining.
The induction ceremony will take place during the MPA’s annual conference on Saturday, October 17, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in South Portland and is open to the public. Tickets to the ceremony, which takes place during the luncheon, are available by contacting MPA Executive Director Janice Thompson at mainepressmail@gmail.com or by registering online.