Anthony Shadid was already booked to appear on the show to discuss his new book when he died February 16 while on assignment in Syria for The New York Times. Shadid’s friend, Rajiv Chandrasekaran and widow Nada Bakri made themselves available in his place. We are grateful that they did so we could spend the hour reflecting on the life of this special journalist.
Anthony Shadid repeatedly put his life on the line. He was the Times bureau chief based in Lebanon and last spring he was arrested and beaten by pro-government forces in Libya. He won two Pulitzer’s in his life: one in 2004 and one in 2010, both for his reporting in Iraq. Last month, he was in Syria, without permission from the Syrian authorities. As much danger as he faced in his career, it appears it was an asthma attack that took his life. Tyler Hicks is a photographer for the Times and was with Shadid at the time. He carried the reporter’s body back across the border into Turkey. He describes those last days in a fascinating piece for The New York Times, which has also created a remembrance page for the fallen reporter.
Bob talked to Anthony Shadid last spring here on this program to discuss his coverage of Libya and Syria. In his final article for the New York Times, Shadid reports on the struggles that still remain in Libya.
“As the militiamen saw it, they had the best of intentions. They assaulted another militia at a seaside base here this week to rescue a woman who had been abducted. When the guns fell silent, briefly, the scene that unfolded felt as chaotic as Libya’s revolution these days — a government whose authority extends no further than its offices, militias whose swagger comes from guns far too plentiful and residents whose patience fades with every volley of gunfire that cracks at night.” (FULL ARTICLE)
Shadid’s third book is “House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family and a Lost Middle East.”