article_snippet.sent: Veteran journalist and author Sandra Mackey died Sunday, Mackey son, Colin Mackey, said.
article_snippet.sent: Mackey extensive career began in anonymity.
article_snippet.sent: Mackey work appeared under the pseudonym Michael Collins.
article_snippet.sent: As Mackey chronicled what was happening around Mackey, Mackey's distinctive voice began to emerge.
article_snippet.sent: Mackey wrote for the people Mackey knew, in a layman's language that was rooted in Mackey training as a high school history teacher.
article_snippet.sent: After earning a history degree from the University of Central Oklahoma, Mackey attended the University of Virginia to study international relations.
article_snippet.sent: Mackey graduated in the first class of women admitted to the graduate program.
article_snippet.sent: Mackey had an Oklahoma twang, the slightly nasal kind that Mackey was proud of, but that belied Mackey worldly understanding.
article_snippet.sent: Mackey would use her worldly understanding to full effect when Mackey wanted to put people at ease.
article_snippet.sent: I am literally a little old lady in tennis shoes," Mackey used to joke about Mackey ability to gain the confidence of countless sources.  