Actor Sam Waterston , Dith Pran and Sydney Schanberg. Waterson portrayed Sydney Schanberg in "The Killing Fields"
Matt Rainey/The Star-LedgerDith Pran in his room at Roosevelt Care Center in Edison NJ on 3/14/08by Judy Peet/The Star-Ledger
Sunday March 30, 2008, 8:31 AM
Humanitarian and photojournalist Dith Pran, whose story was the basis for the Academy-Award-winning movie, "The Killing Fields," died early this morning at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. He was 65.
Former New York Times reporter and colleague Sydney Schanberg, who insisted on sharing his 1976 Pulitzer Prize for covering the war in Cambodia with Mr. Pran, confirmed the death.
Once called a survivor "in the Darwinian sense," Mr. Pran spent 30 years educating the world about the holocaust in Cambodia under communist dictator Pol Pot. In recent weeks, however -- since he was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer, he used his celebrity to warn about the necessity of early cancer detection.
"This is a sneaky disease and I didn't pay attention to the symptoms until it was too late," said Mr. Pran in a recent Star-Ledger interview. "Learn from me. I am not afraid to die, but I hate to see a life wasted."
Born near the religious center of Cambodia at Angkor Wat on Sept. 27, 1942, Mr. Pran grew up to see his country destroyed by genocide.
His father was a senior public-works official. Mr. Pran, his three brothers and two sisters were raised in a comfortable, middle-class environment, speaking English and Khmer, the Cambodian language, at home and French in school.
He became an interpreter, first for U.S. military advisers, then film crews and foreign journalists. In 1975, he was assistant to Schanberg, a Times correspondent, when the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge, the China-supported communist insurgents.
Mr. Pran managed to get his wife and four children on the last helicopter out of the country, but stayed behind to help Schanberg, who refused to leave. According to Schanberg's 1980 account, Mr. Pran saved the lives of Schanberg and two other journalists when they were arrested by the Khmer Rouge and held for execution.
Schanberg and the other foreigners were eventually granted safe conduct to Thailand. Mr. Pran was exiled to a labor camp. He spent more than four years in conditions that killed more than 1.5 million people -- nearly a third of his country inhabitants, including Mr. Pran's father, brothers, sister and 30 other close relatives.
He finally escaped by walking to Thailand in October 1979.
Sunday March 30, 2008, 8:31 AM
Humanitarian and photojournalist Dith Pran, whose story was the basis for the Academy-Award-winning movie, "The Killing Fields," died early this morning at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. He was 65.
Former New York Times reporter and colleague Sydney Schanberg, who insisted on sharing his 1976 Pulitzer Prize for covering the war in Cambodia with Mr. Pran, confirmed the death.
Once called a survivor "in the Darwinian sense," Mr. Pran spent 30 years educating the world about the holocaust in Cambodia under communist dictator Pol Pot. In recent weeks, however -- since he was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer, he used his celebrity to warn about the necessity of early cancer detection.
"This is a sneaky disease and I didn't pay attention to the symptoms until it was too late," said Mr. Pran in a recent Star-Ledger interview. "Learn from me. I am not afraid to die, but I hate to see a life wasted."
Born near the religious center of Cambodia at Angkor Wat on Sept. 27, 1942, Mr. Pran grew up to see his country destroyed by genocide.
His father was a senior public-works official. Mr. Pran, his three brothers and two sisters were raised in a comfortable, middle-class environment, speaking English and Khmer, the Cambodian language, at home and French in school.
He became an interpreter, first for U.S. military advisers, then film crews and foreign journalists. In 1975, he was assistant to Schanberg, a Times correspondent, when the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge, the China-supported communist insurgents.
Mr. Pran managed to get his wife and four children on the last helicopter out of the country, but stayed behind to help Schanberg, who refused to leave. According to Schanberg's 1980 account, Mr. Pran saved the lives of Schanberg and two other journalists when they were arrested by the Khmer Rouge and held for execution.
Schanberg and the other foreigners were eventually granted safe conduct to Thailand. Mr. Pran was exiled to a labor camp. He spent more than four years in conditions that killed more than 1.5 million people -- nearly a third of his country inhabitants, including Mr. Pran's father, brothers, sister and 30 other close relatives.
He finally escaped by walking to Thailand in October 1979.
No comments:
Post a Comment