Ah Jook Ku didn't have much to prove anymore. She was among the first Asian-American reporters for the Associated Press, as well as the first Asian-American female writer for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. She was born of a generation and culture that, at the time, believed girls were not worthy of an education. Yet she went on to become only the third female of Chinese descent to graduate from the Missouri School of Journalism — through a scholarship, no less.

Her success was not because of, but in spite of, her surroundings. For that, she richly deserves the distinction of a true pioneer.

Still, Ku still had much to fight for: open government, freedom of information, higher standards in journalism.

The fact that she was a co-founder of the Honolulu Community Media Council is well known, but the impetus for the group is not widely known. In 1969, then-Mayor Frank Fasi banned all reporters from the Star-Bulletin and The Advertiser from press conferences, a result of his dissatisfaction with coverage. After a meeting with a local church rector, the papers' editors and the mayor's communications director, the Honolulu Community Media Council was born.

In a 1998 interview with the American Journalism Review, Ku said that the watchdog group has made the media "more conscious of First Amendment issues and more accurate in covering things."

Ku passed away on Monday at the age of 97. Her courage and unwavering principles have ensured her a legacy well worth honoring.