WASHINGTON (AP) — Helen Thomas, a pioneer for women in journalism and an irrepressible White House correspondent, has died. She was 92.

A friend, Muriel Dobbin, says Thomas died at her apartment in Washington on Saturday morning. Dobbin says Thomas has been ill for a long time, had been in and out of the hospital, and had come home Thursday.

Thomas made her name as a bulldog for United Press International in the great wire-service rivalries of old. She used her seat in the front row of history to grill 10 presidents — often to their discomfort — and was not shy about sharing her opinions.

She was persistent to the point of badgering; one White House press secretary described her questioning as "torture" — and he was one of her fans.

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