Kathy, as Elaine Lafferty says, you certainly qualify as the best journalist in the region. Stepping back, I can't remember working with anyone who combines so effectively reporting skills with so much else: basic humanity, generosity, courage, commitment and 36-hour workdays. Anyone who followed your dispatches from Afghanistan, long before 9/11, knew the impossible challenges and the perils of sinking into quagmire. Because of trust and respect you had earned from female-averse authorities and warlords, you got in first. When clueless outsiders like myself, from AP or anywhere else, pitched up, you were not only a crucial source but also a much-appreciated den mother. You created a terrific team of Afghans with no previous journalism experience (and for some, little English), to relate their reality to a wider world. Your deeply human book, your teaching and all the rest. And now this sensitive microcosm of two young people at the heart of the final calamity. Hardly the simplistic "Biden's debacle." For any fledgling correspondent seeking a model, it's Kathy Gannon.
You dear Mort are my inspiration. Thank you so much for your extraordinarily kind comment. There are so few in your league. We mere mortals are just happy to call you a friend
Kathy, what a profound remembering from the best journalist in the region. How privileged was I to meet you in 2001/2002 in Afghanistan, after 9/11. Brava! Subscribed!
Brilliant, heartbreaking, insightful commentary. So true - so many left and try to leave (as in Pakisan) not due to fear of the political oppression but because they saw /see "no future in their country".
Kathy, as Elaine Lafferty says, you certainly qualify as the best journalist in the region. Stepping back, I can't remember working with anyone who combines so effectively reporting skills with so much else: basic humanity, generosity, courage, commitment and 36-hour workdays. Anyone who followed your dispatches from Afghanistan, long before 9/11, knew the impossible challenges and the perils of sinking into quagmire. Because of trust and respect you had earned from female-averse authorities and warlords, you got in first. When clueless outsiders like myself, from AP or anywhere else, pitched up, you were not only a crucial source but also a much-appreciated den mother. You created a terrific team of Afghans with no previous journalism experience (and for some, little English), to relate their reality to a wider world. Your deeply human book, your teaching and all the rest. And now this sensitive microcosm of two young people at the heart of the final calamity. Hardly the simplistic "Biden's debacle." For any fledgling correspondent seeking a model, it's Kathy Gannon.
You dear Mort are my inspiration. Thank you so much for your extraordinarily kind comment. There are so few in your league. We mere mortals are just happy to call you a friend
Kathy, what a profound remembering from the best journalist in the region. How privileged was I to meet you in 2001/2002 in Afghanistan, after 9/11. Brava! Subscribed!
You are so kind Elaine. Believe me the privilege was mine
Brilliant, heartbreaking, insightful commentary. So true - so many left and try to leave (as in Pakisan) not due to fear of the political oppression but because they saw /see "no future in their country".